Vampire Academy: Bite Me
by Lauz1
Summary: Rose is supposed to be undergoing the trials but her life keeps getting in the way, her best friend Lissa has been kidnapped, her mentor and love Dimitri is still dueling between his duty and his love for her and then there's everything else...
1. Chapter 1

The gym was deserted which was unheard of given that it was first period. Advanced Guardian Combat Techniques was supposed to being place now and I was supposed to be the one running the session. My reputation as a hard nosed bitch with a major attitude problem meant that seventy percent of the other novices should have been here early, my recent acquired molnija marks which I had been planning to unveil to the rest of the class today meant that the other thirty percent of novices should have been here by now. The other novices were in two minds; the either feared my inner bitch or they awed at my outer beauty.

"Little dhampir," a whispered voice called out to me from nearby.

Slowly I turned around to see Adrian Ivashkov; leaning against the gymnasium wall looking like he owned the place. A cheeky grin was plastered across his face, "What are you doing here?" I asked, my voice trickling with contempt. I wasn't entirely sure what annoyed me more, being stood up by the other novices or having to look at the arrogant Moroi Prince.

"The question is, what are you doing here?" His grin widened and a wicked glint appeared in his deep emerald coloured eyes.

And that's when it dawned on me; this wasn't happening it was only a dream. "Dream stalking me again, Ivashkov?" I shook my head with disgust and turned my back on him. My eyes quickly scanned over my work out clothes which consisted of low riding blue denim jeans and a white strappy top which left little to the imagination. Obviously it was a dream, I would have hardly come to practice dressed in casuals…maybe to my one on one sessions with my guardian, whom wouldn't appreciate the view until after the lesson because that wasn't professional. Now wasn't the time to get think about him, I needed to stay angry not deliriously happy. "For the past week you've been around Lissa like a bad smell," it was of course to my dismay and to her Lissa's boyfriend, Christian's, "and now you're dream stalking me…" I turned back around to face him but was caught off guard by his sudden closeness. He had moved away from the wall and was standing less than a foot away from me, his eyes boring into mine. "Tell me, if I give you a black eye in dream world do you have one in the real one too?"

"I don't know," he admitted, his grin dropping ever so slightly.

"Well, why don't we test that theory…I mean it's not like there are any witnesses…" I grinned up at his six two stature and curled my hand into a fist, preparing myself. I was almost fifty one perfect certain that I wouldn't have done anything…but he didn't give me the chance to act.

His dark eyes dazzled me before he leaned forward, his hot breath pressing against my ear. "I have a better way to test that theory…a test which I think you'll like." The compulsion spell was set and I couldn't move, but my body waited with anticipation to see what he would do. I didn't have to wait long as he stepped around my body, his cool hand trailing up my bare arm, over my shoulder to my neck. Pushing my long deep chestnut coloured hair to one side he moved his face closer to my neck.

"Don't," I whispered, but my voice was as weak as my will. My body was abruptly consumed with desire, I wanted him to touch me, I wanted his mouth to graze my skin and his fangs to pierce my neck. Somewhere deep inside of me I knew it was wrong to want this, but at this very moment all I could think about was his perfectly sculpted fangs.

His hot and heavy breath struck my skin again, "You don't mean that," It was true, I didn't. Suddenly without warning his fangs perforated my skin and he bit down on my neck. The pain seared through me before being replaced with pure and utter ecstasy. I closed my eyes and extended my head further back taking in his vampire kiss. "Dimitri…" His named slipped through as I lost consciousness.

--

His body pressed deeply into mine as his pinned my hands down against the work out mat. My heart rate passed the healthy; 'this is a normal workout and your mentor is kicking your ass stage' into a dangerous 'I wouldn't mind too much if we got down and dirty right here, right now.' Of course I knew it was impossible, Dimitri kept our workouts strictly professional. He never acknowledged his attraction to me during our twice daily practices, unlike me. If my mind wasn't trying to anticipate his next attack, it was drifting away into our past stolen kisses and moments. It had been two weeks since we had restarted our sessions, two weeks since he had told me that he had declined Tasha's offer, two weeks since he had kissed me. I was understandably growing increasingly frustrated by the lack of physicality in our, well, relationship. I tilted my head slightly, it was thirty two minutes past the hour which meant that our session had technically ended. "Our session finished two minutes ago," I informed him hoping that this news would somehow take control of him and he would give in to passion.

A half smile appeared on his face, "And you're telling me this because?" His Russian accent was almost unnoticeable.

"Well I was hoping that you would take advantage of the situation, you know…" I looked down at our bodies pressed together and then back up into his warm watching eyes with suggestive eyes. "Some might call you a tease…pinning a girl down and not kissing her."

"Ah, Roza…" And there it was. His Russian accent more pronounced as he said my name. He pulled his body back slightly as if were about to get up. Well if he wasn't going to take advantage of the situation, then I certainly was. Wrapping my legs around his waist and using the better part of my strength, I rolled us over so that he was the one pressed against the mat. My hands quickly took a hold of his wrists and pinned them against the workout mat.

"Finally the novice scores a point." I grinned down at him victoriously. Okay so my motive for this move wasn't strictly professional. Sure it was nice to finally have pinned my super badass mentor down but it was even better to be the one in control. "You know you really shouldn't get distracted, comrade…someone could easily take advantage."

And that was when he broke free of my grasp and in turn rolled me back over the on mat and once again pinned me down. "And you shouldn't be so overconfident," He freed one of my wrists and tucked a loose strand behind my ear. Okay, so maybe he was acknowledging our session was over. As his face moved closer to mine, I closed my eyes readying myself and took in a deep breath – my senses being completely overloaded by his aftershave. I felt his lips at my ear, "Not here Rose…" His nose skimmed the side of my jaw before he pulled back and like that he was gone.

Opening my eyes, I watched as he stood up and walked across the gymnasium. I wanted to scream…how could he frustrate me so easily. "Seriously?" I called out after him as I flipped myself up off of the mat. My hands ran over my shorts and straightened them out and then found their way to my heaving cleavage to right myself in my work out top. "That's it?"

He didn't bother to turn his head to look back at me, he continued to clean up the gymnasium by putting the practice dummies back in their original positions.

Of course I knew all the rational reasons for his decision but it didn't make it hurt any less. I was a sexually frustrated, angry teenage girl. Walking across the gymnasium, lessening the space between us I walked up behind him. "It's been two weeks since you last kissed me, we've had moments, we've had chances and every time you don't take them. Why?" I frowned, "And please don't give me that Zen professional crap, cause we bypassed that two weeks ago." I paused and spoke my niggling doubts out loud. "Then again maybe you've changed your mind…I'm a big girl, if you don't want me anymore just say so."

He turned instantly and looked at me – his brow deepening into a frown, his eyes angry. "Don't be ridiculous, Roza..." A flare of frustration seeped out from his eyes and I instantly knew that he still wanted me, he just wanted me somewhere that wasn't here.

"Are we ever going to have a chance to be alone?" I asked looking up at him, knowing that he wouldn't have the answer to my question. I stepped closer to him, wrapping my arms around his waist, burying my face into his chest. "I just…" I sighed into him, "I need to be with you."

His hand reached down, his index and middle finger lifting my chin so I could look into his eyes. He opened his mouth to say something just as the door opened.

And like an electric shock I jumped away from him, so that we were standing at least a foot apart. I turned my head slowly and stared over at the gymnasium door, watching as other novices started to pile into the practice room, completely unaware of the intense atmosphere between Dimitri and I.

"Yo Hathaway! You're leading today's session right?" I looked over to Milo, the guy who had been my practice partner for the past couple of weeks.

"That's right, Milo…and if you piss me off, you'll be my punching dummy." The other novices laughed, I turned and looked up at Dimitri who just shook his head with disapproval as he made his way out of the gymnasium. He wasn't particularly fond of my often cussing and the way I spoke to my fellow novices.

--

My session was a success. Alberta had been the designated guardian to watch over today's session, she had complimented me on my warm up skills which consisted of doing ten laps around the circuit outside to my well co-ordinated group defence techniques in the practice room.

"You're going to be quite the guardian someday, Miss Hathaway." She broke guardian 101: never get personal and show you have emotions, with a smile. "I can see a lot of Belikov in you…"And she was gone.

Was Dimitri's influence over me really so noticeable. Mason had commented on my newly found respect for following rules and being a goody twos a few months back. Mason…I sighed. He had been one of my closest friends and he had died right in front of me. A part of me still blamed myself but I knew it was senseless to do so.

"Little Dhampir…"

I looked up from the floor to see Adrian Ivashkov leaning against the wall of the gymnasium wall, just as he did so in my dream. My hand quickly reached up and brushed the side of my neck where in my dream he had bitten me. My neck was smooth, there was no unbroken skin. "You've got a lot of nerve, Ivashkov…"

"I just wanted to come and see my favourite dhampir," He grinned stepping away from the wall, unfolding his arms. He took deliberate slow steps across the gymnasium towards me. "You're not mad at me, are you?"

"No, what would make you think that?" I asked, my voice ringing with sarcasm. "Take one more step towards me and I will break your face." I frowned, not wanting him to be any closer to me. I wasn't entirely sure how well his compulsion would work on me out of our dream state and I sure as hell didn't want to find out. "That's not a threat, it's a promise." I warned him.

"So much anger for such a young person…" He continued to take small steps towards me. His grin spread across his face as looked me up and down, appreciating the view. "You look …mouth watering."

"You know what, screw Kirova…" I said referring to the Principal whom had stated on my arrival back into the academy that I was to strictly follow the school rules. "You're getting a black eye for thinking about me like that…"

"Like what?"

"Like I'm your personal blood whore…"

"That's not what I was thinking…"

The door swung open and in walked Lissa, Mia and Christian.

Lissa looked at Adrian and then to me, raising her brow. She had been questioning the tension between the two of us for the past couple of weeks. Deep down inside she thought that there was some underlying sexual tension, she thought that I had actually wanted to sleep with the delusional Moroi prince. She wandered whether they had just walked in on a lovers quarrel.

I shot her a lethal glare. "No," I answered her question. It annoyed her that I could feel her emotions and on occasion accidentally slip into her subconscious ness. I picked up my workout bag and stalked across the gymnasium, "Tell you're little cousin to stop dream stalking me, otherwise one morning he'll wake up to find himself one ball less…" My angry tone wasn't meant to be directed at her but I hoped she thought that at least a part of it was directed at her. She had been spending practically every waking moment with Adrian these past couple of weeks that I barely recognised the beautiful blonde who walked through the door. Though I wasn't in the right mood to have that conversation with her, "I've got body guard theory…I'll see you guys later."

.

--


	2. Chapter 2

Thank you, **Ariana-Magdalena**, mysterious person, **thee-dark-enchantress** and **em-paige12085** for your reviews. Thank you for your compliments and thank you for pointing my mistakes out to me, which hopefully have now been rectified. I should probably tell you that I didn't have a story when I posted the first chapter, it was just a test. However, I think I've found an interesting route to take the story down, so anyways. Hope you like, and I hope you continue to **review** :)

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Yoga is apparently therapeutic for some; my therapeutic sessions consist of my one on one training sessions with Dimitri. Kirova had made the sessions a prerequisite – without them I would have been tossed back out onto the streets at the beginning of term, without Lissa. Then again these past few weeks had been like living without her. We shared only one class together during school time and outside of that she was spending the majority of her time with Adrian. Admittedly during one of their little private meetings I had tried to use our blood bond to my advantage and get an inside look at exactly what was going on, but I couldn't get through. Usually it was quite simple to get inside of her head – but after everything I had been through in the past month, my mind, body and soul seemed to be tied up in knots.

"Rose…" his voice brought me back to the room, back the dummy's chest which my fists were currently doing a one-two-three combo against.

"What?" I asked, my voice cutting slightly. I sighed out of my fighting stance and took a step back away from the dummy. "Sorry, it's just been a long day." It had been a long day and it had all started with a bad dream.

He stood up from his chair and walked across the gymnasium, closing the distance between us. "With trials coming up, maybe we should cut back on the training sessions to one a day."

"Can't comrade, the Nazi made it crystal clear at the beginning of term that I had to jump through all her little hoops and this is one of them." Not that I wanted to end one of our sessions together – sure I would have time to study or even see more of my friends, but I would be losing out on a perfectly good hour of combat training. "Besides," I unearthed my man eating smile and took a step closer to him, so that we were almost touching. "We don't have long together before I become the world's most kick ass guardian so I would like to make the most of the time we have together."

He shook his head and turned away from me with a smile playing at his lips. "It was actually Headmistress Kirova who suggested scaling back on your sessions," He said catching me completely off guard. "She's seen the progress you've made over the last few months, the obstacles you've had to overcome." He paused, no doubt thinking back to just a few weeks ago when he and other guardians had walked in on me sprawled out across Mason's dead body, next to two decapitated Moroi and holding a blunt sword to warn off any attackers.

"Seriously, Kirova's letting me off the hook?" I asked my voice filled with disbelief. It made no sense. The old hag hated me, pure and simple. Sure I had gone above and beyond my student duties and wandered into guardian territory to protect Lissa. Suddenly it occurred to me, "Wait was it a suggestion or an order?"

Dimitri returned my gaze, "A suggestion."

"Good," I sighed in relief. "Because without you giving me Zen lessons, I would lose all my self control and beat Adrian Ivashkov to a pulp."

The smile that had been playing at Dimitri's lips miraculously vanished, his hands clenched ever so slightly. All the other guardians thought that Dimitri had mastered his control, but I knew better.

"You know," I continued before he could ask what the royal pain in my ass had done this time to get under my skin, "The…" I was about to push my luck by making another comment about us trying to be together, when the light turned off. And it wasn't in the gymnasium. A rupture of panic ripped through the blood bond I shared with Lissa.

"Rose,"

She whispered my name as she tried to open her eyes.

"Shhh, it won't hurt. For long…" An eerie male voice giggled in her ear as a finger traced down the side of her cheek.

I ripped out of her and back to myself, just as the gymnasium door slammed open. Dimitri was standing over me, his hand resting under my chin. He had probably been staring into my absent eyes waiting for me to come back to him but his eyes were now focused on Alberta.

"We're under attack." She spoke so calmly that I thought I must have heard it wrong. But the sound of faraway screams suddenly pierced through me.

I looked up into Dimitri's dark eyes for a brief moment before I took off. Running laps for several months as a warm up around the school's field had been setting me up for this moment. I ran through the school hallways taking in everything that was happening around me; the guardians standing guard at several rooms which were holding Moroi vampires, keeping them safe. My main priority was Lissa. Everything else was just background noise.

It's amazing what pure determination can do to you; I had reached Lissa's dorm in less than a minute which would have usually taken me at least two. The dorm looked undisturbed; the wooden door leading to her bedroom was closed.

"No one's coming to save you…"

My foot connected with the door before any rational thought pulsed through me. I should have taken precautions; I should have done the sensible thing and waited for backup…I should have but I didn't. The door broke away from its top hinge while the bottom section splintered into two.

"I wouldn't count on that,"

He stood up straight, his body no longer looming over my unconscious best friend. His ruby red eyes smiled as he inhaled deeply, "Mmm dhamphir!" His tongue traced his lips as his eyes scanned my body. "There's always room for a starter before the main the course."

"Well then why don't you come on over for a taster…" I grinned in spite of myself. This was no time to be bantering with a Strigoi vampire as Lissa lay unconscious less than a foot away from him, but I needed him to be distracted and I needed to protect Lissa with everything I had – even if it meant my life.

Before I could move or even blink he was across the room, his hands holding mine by my side, his mouth inches from my neck. And on instinct my knee pushed up and smashed into his stomach just as my head collided with his, making him loosen his grip on me and stagger back ever so slightly. He had obviously thought I was just another inexperienced novice – boy was he wrong.

"How'd it taste?" I asked as I freed myself from his grip. His blood red eyes no longer smiling but narrowing; watching me carefully trying to asses my next move "What's the matter? Not used to your food fighting back?" An angry snarl escaped his lips, his fist aiming for my head instead impacted with the palm of my hand. Sure I couldn't hold him back for long, but I could at least draw it out. My free hand whipped around quickly and shaped itself into a fist just before impacting against his face, knocking him to the floor which was an achievement in itself. Unlike my encounter with Natalie, I didn't hesitate. My foot pounded against his face several times, each time making widening the pool of blood on floor.

"Rose…" Lissa called out into the darkened room.

I took my attention away from the vampire below my foot and to her for just a second. A second too long as a hand gripped around my bicep, throwing me hard against one of the bedroom walls. Another Strigoi had entered the room while my attention had been elsewhere. And unlike her friend lying in a pool of blood on the floor, she had the advantage. Pinning me against the wall, she sniffed the side of my face and tightened her grip on my wrists. "You have a beautiful body…" She spoke as she studied it, a smile playing on her bloodied lips. "How would you like to be my blood whore?"

"Bite me." My biting tone matching my words.

And then she moved in for the bite.


	3. Chapter 3

_If you read, pretty please with sugar and a cherry on top, please please review. Haha, enough begging._

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After returning from a two year absence, rumours started circulating about how my best friend, Moroi princess Lissa Dragomir had managed to survive outside of the school grounds. Her diet of blood meant that we couldn't exactly stroll down to the local Wal-Mart and pick up a pint of O-Negative blood. Sure it would have made life a little simpler but for the two years we stayed away from the academy I had been Lissa's personal blood donor and I never complained, not once, because I was doing my duty by protecting my charge, my best friend. In fact, I encouraged her, mostly because she needed to be strong but partly because I was hooked on the endorphins that are released through a vampires bite.

This was nothing like that.

The Strigois fangs ripped through the layers of thin flesh covering my neck before she bit down with extra force and began to suck the life from my body. I had been counting on the calvary in the form of an attractive, six foot seven dark haired dhamphir to come and save the day. It had been our routine; I get myself in life threatening dilemma and in he comes, like a bat out of hell to save the day. Struggling against the Strigoi's impenetrable hold, she pulled my body in closer to hers before slamming it back against the wall with as much force as she could, causing the wall to shake ever so slightly.

She watched over me expectantly as I tried to stand up right. It wasn't surprising that I was having balance issues, my head had hit the wall pretty damn hard not to mention I was currently running on empty in the blood stakes. A grin pressed her lips as clenched my fists together, getting ready once more to fight. "You're a fighter, I like that." With increasingly slowness she licked her bloodied lips. She took in a deep breath and lifted her pale wrist to her mouth and ruptured through her own skin with her teeth, her forehead rippling ever so slightly at the pain of her own actions.

This was so not good.

She took a step closer to me and held wrist out to me.

"Thanks, but I've already eaten!" Even on the brink of passing out from blood loss, I was hardly going to chow down on the skank's wrist. "Besides, a bitch like you might have rabies."

Her brow furrowed and she lunged for me once again, knocking me back into the same part of the wall she had thrown me into earlier. Surely one more blow to the wall like that and I would be saying hello to Lissa's next door neighbour. "Listen to me you stupid little girl, there is a war coming and you have to decide whose side you want to be on. The weak," She looked over her shoulder at my unconscious best friend who was sprawled out across her double bed, and then back to me. "Or the immortal…I'm offering you a once in a lifetime opportunity."

Strigoi weren't known for the compassion so why was this so called badass immortal offering me, a stupid little girl the opportunity of a lifetime? It was so hilarious that I actually laughed out loud in a very high pitched school girl way in her face.

If she had been mad before. She was livid now. Her hand whipped out and circled my throat as a low hiss escaped her lips. Apparently turning down the offer of immortal life was an insult to the living dead. As her other arm approached my lips, the arm which was currently leaking blood from two small puncture wounds, my mouth clamped down. She wasn't much taller than I was which was going to work to my advantage. My head swung forward, my forehead smashing hard into her chin making her lose her grip on me completely. Ouch. I had never head butted anyone in my life mostly because the majority of people I tended to train with were about a foot taller than I me. I staggered backward from the impact trying to steady myself against the wall. One, Two, Three; well at least I could still count that was something considering that I was ninety nine percent sure that I would pass out within the next two minutes.

I would have given anything to be holding that blunt rusty old sword that I had used while decapitating the only Strigoi I had ever killed before, though in my current state I probably wouldn't have even been able to lift the sword an inch from the ground. A silver stake would probably work better, especially with Demitri teaching me how to avoid the stupid ironclad ribcage which was blocking the easy access route to the heart.

The female Strigoi was suddenly on fire. Spontaneous combustion was also highly recommendable, though it wouldn't kill a Strigoi unfortunately.

My head turned to see Christian standing in the broken doorway, his flaming eyes concentrating on keeping the flames contained to one person in the room.

"Rose…"

Lissa muttered my name again. As I turned to see whether she had woken up from her unconscious state my eyes closed and my body free fell to the floor.

--

I woke up staring at the all too familiar white ceiling of the school's clinic, which in recent months had become a second home. A frown trailed across my face as my eyes adjusted to the filtered lighting, sure I had super enhanced senses but sometimes I missed the regular light bulb which would have undoubtedly snapped my focus back into place within a heartbeat. And then it hit me, why I was in here. My hand extended up to my neck, my fingers running over the broken but closed puncture wounds.

"Shit."

"Finally she wakes!" Christian let out a deep frustrated sigh.

I jerked upright so that I was sitting on the uncomfortable hospital like bed and took in my actual surroundings. I wasn't in the usual general clinic; I was in the one of the private rooms allocated to only the incredibly wealthy. Lissa and Christian were sat at the far end of the room, as close to the walls as they could be and as far away from me as possible. Standing guard in front of them were three guardians, their faces and body stances completely identical. Well almost, Dimitri was looking at me not with the cold eyes the others were but rather his bottomless dark eyes searching mine.

Lissa stared at me, half smiling, and half grimacing. She was trying her hardest to be cheerful but yet I could feel her horror.

"What?" My hands reached up searched my face and moved down my body, checking for something, anything that would make her feel that uneasy. "What's wrong?" I swung my legs around on the clinic bed and pressed my bare feet against the cold clinic floor. As I stood and stumbled slightly, two of the guardians stepped back to protect Lissa and Christian while Dimitri reached out and steadied me. His hand felt warm on my arm, it took a lot of self control not to instinctively reach up and touch his face in response. "Whoa, head rush." I pulled back from his touch and eyed the other guardians who were looking at the two of us with curious eyes. It wasn't that obvious, was it?

"You should be resting," He looked down into my eyes as his brow furrowed slightly, "The doctor will be here to check up on you again soon."

"Rose?" I turned almost unwillingly to look at my beautiful blonde haired best friend, her expression was mixed as were her emotions. "D-d-did…" She stuttered trying to find her words, which was so unlike Lissa. "Did she…"

"Bite me?" I flicked my hand across my neck like a game show host showing off a prize – only this wasn't a prize, it was anything but. "Yeah but I totally had the fight in hand before your psycho boyfriend showed up and tried to burn the skank alive." I looked over to Christian and smiled sheepishly at him, it was uncommon for me to show any kind of gratitude to him. We had a love hate relationship…well, actually it was purely hate but still, the boy had saved the day.

"No did she…" Lissa struggled again to find her words.

"Spit it out, Liss!"

"Did you drink her blood?" Lissa finally asked.

So that's why Beavis and Butthead were guarding the two of them, they were protecting them from me!

"No!" I shrieked loudly, unless..."Not unless she did it while I was unconscious but then Christian surely would have seen…" I turned to look at him and he shook his head, indicating that he hadn't the Strigoi vampire try to force feed me her baby formula.

"Miss Dragomir was coming around when you passed out on the floor, the boy was about to lose control," Rufus the usually silent guardian spoke directly to me, giving me a rundown on what had gone down. "Guardian Belikov entered the room, fought vampire and then proceeded to stake both the female and male vampire." I had completely forgotten about the slimy male Strigoi that I had rendered unconscious before my demise. He continued to babble on while my mind went back to Lissa's question.

Anger began to simmer under the surface, how could she have even asked me that. Like I would ever drink Strigoi blood? I would have thrown myself out of her two storey bedroom window and risk having one of the caretakers mop up my remains for a month than drink anything that skanky ass bitch had to offer.

Before I could say anything Dr Olendzki entered the room, a smile pressing at her lips. "Ah Rose, you're awake, wonderful." A small smile playing at her lips, "See now," She turned to the others in the room. "Your concerns were unwarranted, her features haven't paled, she appears to be unchanged and she still has a healthy heartbeat." It was only then I was conscious of the heart rate monitor beeping away at a steady pace. My eyes flickered down to the little plastic object wrapped around my index finger which was wired to the heart rate monitor. "But I'll still need to run some tests, which require all of your absences."

Her tone suggested that apparently my visitors weren't only annoying me.

"You have two minutes," She warned the others before disappearing back into the clinic hallway.

Hopping back onto the bed which I would probably call my own for the tonight and more than likely tomorrow too, I folded my arms across my chest and waited for them to leave.

"I'll come by in the morning," Lissa approached the bed without any obstruction from her body guard, which meant that they no longer considered me a hazard.

"Yeah, fine." My abrupt tone caught her off guard and her smile faltered slightly. She would undoubtedly put my pissed off mood down to having to be a lab rat for the next couple of hours.

Christian nodded to me before following Lissa out of the room. He was followed by Rufus and the other guardian, whose name escaped me. Only Dimitri remained. I stared at the door waiting to follow the others and leave, instead I was surprised when his warm hand brushed the side of my face. His touch sent an electric current through my veins.

My head turned slightly and my eyes locked onto his. This was the first contact he had given me willingly (aside from our training sessions and earlier, when he had steadied me on my feet) and I was only too aware of that. All thoughts of feeling annoyed and betrayed at Lissa's question were gone.

For now only we existed.

I sighed into his touch, "Is getting beat up the thing a girl has to do to get some attention from you?" I asked jokingly but he didn't smile. His eyes, his expression, his whole stance was hard and serious. "Joke…" I said trying to clarify my humour, something which he usually got but ignored.

Suddenly his lips were on mine and he kissed me. Not a peck on the lips to say goodbye but a deep, heady kiss which seemed to linger on forever. The heart rate monitor went wild as my heart rate increased considerably. If he didn't know the effect he had on me, he sure did now.

"Someone's coming," He whispered against my lips just before pulling back. "I'll see you in the morning, Roza." He smiled before leaving the room, walking past the Dr. Olendzki.

I was still in a daze from the unexpected kiss that I hadn't noticed her approach my bed. "Is something wrong, Rose?" She asked looking over the heart rate monitor read out.

"Yeah," I looked up to her a little irritated. "That wasn't two minutes," I said referring to her presence and the lack of Dimitri's.


	4. Chapter 4

Rose Hathaway once again making headlines, it was nothing new of course. My stubborn nature, the inability to follow the mandatory school rules and of course my red hot temper had in the past been my show stopping numbers, though lately it was my hardcore soon-to-be guardian side that was gaining all of the publicity. Obviously the 'think first' notion was lost on me otherwise I wouldn't have charged Lissa's room two nights earlier to face down with a Strigoi vampire with nothing but my charming personality and cracking wit for backup; Something which was currently being thrown back in my face in the form of one of Kirova's' notorious bitch fests.

"...do I make myself clear, Miss Hathaway?" Her icy glare widened, waiting impatiently for my response.

"Crystal." I responded swinging my legs over the side of the clinic bed ready to high tail it back to my own dorm room before my get out of jail free card expired. "Though I've got to ask," I jumped up from the bed and landed on my perfect, steady two feet. "Would it kill you to say, well done Rose?" Being locked up in purgatory for the past two days and having a visitor ban forced upon me tended to bring out my sarcastic side. "I mean, honestly...it's not like I'm expecting a pat on the back but a little acknowledgement that I stepped up to bat and took a hit when no one else could would be nice." A mocking smile encased my mouth before I had a chance to check myself. If my words hadn't propelled hurricane Kirova to category five then surely my contemptuous smile would.

A deep sigh escaped her lips, her icy glare faltered and suddenly I was no longer staring at the hardnosed bitch who had placed me on probation follow my return to the academy – no, now I was staring at a very exhausted woman who looked like she could do with a long overdue break. "Rose," She said skipping her usual formalities and moved across the room to sit down on one a chair. Her hand half circled the air as she motioned for me to sit on the chair closest to hers.

I moved across the room and obeyed more out of intrigue than requirement and sat down on the chair closest to hers.

Her eyes looked up and regarded me seriously. "We were the only school housing both Moroi and Dhampir to be attacked which suggests that either this was a test run to see how well they," She said with complete and utter disdain in her voice, "could infiltrate the school perimeter." In other words we were their little test rats, how fun. "Or..." She paused, "There was another motive behind this attack."

"Like what?" I asked completely forgetting my place; I was a student not a guardian.

She ignored it. And suddenly rose from her seat, her ice cool regard back in its place. "We have taken extra precautions and increased security on and around the school grounds. Your lessons and training sessions may be disrupted at any point without any advanced notice." Headmistress Kirova turned and sauntered across the room.

I sat in the chair completely dumbfounded over what had just happened. The world must have turned on its axis and started to spin backwards.

"Oh and Miss Hathaway," She turned over her shoulder and looked back at me. "Consider your probation period expended...of course knowing your temperament I expect this expended period only to be temporary." She added cooly before walking out of the room.

And the bitch was back.

--

After a quick check up to make sure that I wasn't sporting blood red eyes and the need to chow down on some O Neg, not to mention the promise I had to make to Doctor Olendzki, "I promise that next time I enter the clinic it will not be because I've fallen through any rotten benches, been on the receiving end of a bitching black eye from dear ol' mommy or by any bite marks from immortal vampires" they finally released me. Hallelujah. I wasn't even that bothered that they had released me an hour before classes were due to start, I was more than ready to get back into the swing of things.

Even after showering, changing and walking at a slow but steady pace to the gymnasium for Advanced Guardian Combat Techniques I was still going to be one of the first ones to arrive for class, hopefully giving me a little one on one time to ogle my favourite guardian! Pulling on the metal handle of the door I found myself face to face with all of my class mates...all of whom were already practicing.

"You're late!"

I closed my 'O' shaped surprised mouth to find the owner of the loud voice staring across the room at me, arms crossed looking less than impressed to find a straggler entering what was apparently his session...late.

"My check up ran over." There was no apology. Walking around the edge of the gymnasium, knowing that all eyes were focused on me I shot the new guardian a quick grin. "Next time I'll get a doctor's note." Dropping my shoulder bag to the floor, letting it mix with the other novices' bags I turned back around, placing my hands on my defiant hips. "Where do you want me?"

"On the bed..." I heard someone mutter.

"Against the wall..."

The other novices laughed as the Guardian leading the morning session threw daggers at me with his eyes. "Rose Hathaway, 5'4, raven coloured hair, brown eyes... 110lb's..." He read out my statistics without missing a beat and getting both my height and weight wrong. "Has a fond disrespect for following school rules, an extremely unruly temperament. Is also the only girl novice in the senior class and the only novice in the senior class who has earned two molnija marks..."

"You forgot enjoys long walks on the beach..." I added sarcastically. My good mood quickly soured by the newbie in the front. "Is there a point to this or are you just trying to gain brownie points by showing that you've read and memorized my school record...which by the way, is a little creepy." My eyes quickly scanned the room and found Alberta shaking her head with disapproval though I couldn't tell if it was directed at me or her new little pet. Standing to her right I found myself locking eyes with a pair of dark eyes. Opps. Probably not the best time to show off my 'unruly temperament.'

The guardian leading the session turned to the other novices and regarded them, his hands animated as he explained. "In order to defeat your enemy you must know them. Use your knowledge to your advantage!"

"So I'm your enemy?" I asked confused.

A smile touched his lips, "You are for today's session." He motioned with his hands for me to join him on the practice mat at the front of the class. Great, I was going to be his punching bag for the next hour. Well this punching bag was going to punch back...and kick, and pretty much do anything to gain an advantage.

--

An hour later and I felt like I had gone ten rounds with a perfectly vigorous Mike Tyson, though I wasn't going to show the new guardian that he had beaten me. After all I had landed a fair few jabs on the arrogant and surprised newbie. He obviously hadn't read Dimitri's training session reports otherwise he would have released that I was no longer trailing in my classes but skipping to the front and whistling while I skipped. The other novices started to pack up the gymnasium as I quickly caught my breath only to realise that during my sparring matching that my audience had grown, not only had novices and guardians seen my public beating but so had Moroi students...including my friends.

Straightening my spine I strode across the gymnasium to them, my face flushed from the heavy work out, my hair half hanging out of its high pony tail and matted together from sweat.

"Hathaway, who knew you, could actually fight? Most of the time you just fall down unconscious..." There was a compliment in there somewhere, I was sure of it.

My fist impacted against his shoulder without a second thought and caught Christian off guard. Our newly found appreciation, well maybe that was pushing it a little far – it was more like we had found neutral ground. I wasn't braiding him a friendship bracelet just because he happened to show up and half save the day.

"I can't believe you're still standing..." Her disbelief in me once again was ringing loud and clear through both her words and her emotions.

"Apparently you can't believe a lot of things to do with me lately." My clipped tone was again catching her off guard. I wasn't almost sure that the anger buried deep inside of me wasn't directed at Lissa but rather surging from her. What had Adrian said? 'You have shadows. You take them from Lissa.' I felt a rush of hurt feelings surge from Lissa and felt instantly guilty. It wasn't her fault. "I'm sorry Liss..." I said before Christian could take a step back from our neutral ground and unleash his verbal whiplash at me. "I'm...just." I struggled to find the words. I could hardly say it's not you, it's me, how clichéd. "I'm pissed that the new guardian wanted to use me as his little lab rat, that's all." Mostly...well kind of, I added silently.

Lissa smiled and touched my arm gently, "What I meant was that I couldn't believe you were still standing after having a training session with Guardian Davies!" She exclaimed.

"Great," I swallowed hard. Not only had I gone one on one with a renowned guardian, but I had also let loose the Rose Hathaway banter on him.

"Don't worry, I'm sure he was enthralled by your personality just as I constantly am." Adrian Ivashkov was suddenly standing beside Lissa.

"How do you do that?"

"What?" He asked confused, but a grin tugging at his lips.

"Appear out of thin air just when I think that you've done us all a favour and gone back to whatever sleazy brothel you crawled out of." The fun thing about Adrian was one of the few people who could both handle and find a quick retort to the famous Rose Hathaway banter. "Was that an example of my enthralling personality?" I asked, quoting him.

He laughed in response. "Oh you have no idea how much I enjoy your company little Dhampir," Adrian turned to Lissa, "Let's go cousin, I wouldn't want to endure Ms Carmack's wrath by being tardy...especially if it's one like our dear Rose had to endure." He winked at me before turning in his expensive shiny black shoes and leaving the gymnasium.

"Tell him next time if he wants to endure a public thrashing, I'd be more than willing to be on the giving end of one...with him being on the receiving end." I smiled imagining the moment far too clearly.

Lissa shook her head at me; she was far too kind to the little leech that followed her around. "I'll see you at dinner tonight," She said before turning around and following Adrian out of the gymnasium. Apparently she wouldn't be seeing me at lunch, she was mostly likely going to be practicing magic with leech boy. We were going to have words about that.

"Hey Rose..."

I turned to Christian raising my brow, "What?" I asked confused by the sudden smile on his face.

"Promise me one thing..."

"Too many people are asking me to make promises today..." I retorted.

"When you give him a public thrashing just make sure I'm there to witness it." And just like Adrian he winked at me before leaving the gymnasium, though unlike Adrian's wink it left me feeling uneasy. Adrian flirting with me, that I was used to...Christian Ozera winking at me for whatever purpose, I was not.

The other novices started to file out of the gymnasium, the majority of them nodding at me as they did so. Apparently getting your ass kicked by a renowned guardian brought you respect, awesome. "Rose Hathaway..."

I turned and found myself face to face with Alberta, Dimitri and Davies. "Present." I said, unearthing the Rose Hathaway sweet smile which hadn't been used since I was...like five. Hopefully it would gain me brownie points with the new guardian.

"You're afternoon training session with Guardian Belikov has been cancelled." My heart sighed; missing out on an hour with my favourite guardian was so not okay with me.

"Trials are coming up soon..." I complained completely ignoring what Kirova had said earlier, that lessons and training sessions would be cancelled without advanced notice. She probably had said it to me hoping that by having this knowledge I wouldn't throw a major bitch fit. "And I haven't even had my Qualifier yet," Due to the fact that legendary guardian Arthur Schoenberg who was supposed to head my qualifying exam had died in a bloody massacre along with the Moroi family had was assigned to protect.

"You'll be training with me instead." He interrupted my rant and frowned. "So do yourself a favor and be on time." His cold voice sent chills down my spine.

I met his gaze and tilted my head rebelliously, so much for trying to gain brownie points. Well if we was going to unprofessional and give me attitude then I was going to give him a little back. "I've heard you kill on command," Turning around I bent down and picked up my shoulder back throwing it over my neck and turned to meet his frosty gaze again. "Do you also bark and roll over?" I knew this much, even if I wasn't late to his session I was going to pay for that remark later but I didn't care.

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_A/N: I just want to say a BIG thank you for everyone who reviewed my last chapter. I wanted to update sooner but I just had a mental block. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter...and I promise more Dimitri in the next one. I'm having serious Belikov withdrawals!!_

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	5. Chapter 5

_A/N: Again I really hate to beg, particularly because I'm usually a stubborn mule...but reviews really do brighten my day. So if you read please review :) And apologises for any mistakes, gramma or story related. )_

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Okay so we really needed to have a 'safe' word - not in that dominatrix, leather bound, whip in hand, guy tied down to a bed or cuffed by shackles hanging down from the ceiling, say mom when you want it to stop kind of way …well I suppose the same concept applied just minus the leather, the whip, the rope, the shackles and any kind of sexual activity. The world renowned guardian had been kicking my ass, throwing punches at what I had considered a pretty enough face for thirty minutes straight. And that had only been the warm up.

Taking a chance to catch my breath I also had the chance to right myself by positioning my workout clothes back in their intended areas and by redoing my hair so that all the loose strands were once again tied back in a tight high pony tail. Dimitri while admiring my long locks of raven coloured hair had also stated that it often blocked my peripheral vision which was never a good thing when your opponent was high tailing it around the gymnasium at the speed of the Tasmanian devil, being everywhere at once.

"Your hand to hand combat while advanced for your novice status," The Nazi guardian began his critique, "Is far too sporadic." I turned and watched as Guardian Davis walk across the gymnasium, his back to me. I couldn't help but think that if Dimitri were here I would have taken my chance for an advantage and jumped at his back as I had done before, only this time my motive would have been far more devious duplicitous, sure gaining an advantage over him would have been nice but having his tall, lean body pinning mine down would have been better. "You attack on instinct," He said pulling my attention away from my fantasy and back to the crappy reality, "when you should be attacking because it's what you are trained to do"

Was there a difference? "Well," I said crossing the gymnasium to stand back in the center on the workout mat. "It's kept me alive so far…" Not a great comeback there, Rose. I chided myself. It also left him an opening to make some comment about how it may have kept me alive, but it also had a hand in others deaths. Mason.

"Don't get me wrong," He said bending down to open the large bag in front of him. "Fighting on instinct is a powerful weapon, if not the most…" Retrieving two long wooden staffs from what was apparently his weapons bag; he turned and threw one in my direction.

"But if you keep your head, if you use your instincts with your training then you will be unstoppable." He approached the training mat as I spun the staff in my hand. Something about his facial expression stopped me from making a 'zmmm' noise to imitate a lightsaber. I was going on a hunch that he wasn't a Star Wars fan.

"No-one's unstoppable," Thank you Zen lessons. "So," I said ignoring the aches and pains protesting loudly against my skin, my body even in a bruised state would always burrow on through when combat was imminent. "Is this the part where you tell me to take a hard long look at the wooden staff in my hand because it's the last time I'll be seeing it for a while until I learn the best techniques on how to take out an opponent with….a stick?"

"No, this is the part where you hope that your weapons training is better than your hand to hand, otherwise you'll be sporting some nasty looking bruises in the morning."

His training sessions were officially the opposite of what I had been used to. Dimitri had me running laps to not only build stamina but also to show me that running away from an opponent if outnumbered and weighed down by my ward was the sensible thing to do. Guardian Davies had me going five to six rounds with him as a warm up. Dimitri had me looking at the pretty silver stakes and learning how to use them before actually using them. Guardian Davies had me learning on the spot. Davies sessions were most definitely hands on and Dimitri's were most definitely hands off… in more ways than one, despite my very vocal protests.

--

My body was literally being dragged to the commons by Mia, little Mia who was both shorter and more fragile than I. My body had refused to give up during my hour training session even though a part of my brain was telling it just to wave the white flag and surrender. Mia moved me to an empty table and waited until I had sat down before leaving me to go off to the feeders, where Lissa and the others were undoubtedly getting their blood fix. That was the bad thing about having just Moroi friends – being left stranded at dinner. Sure I could have joined one of the other tables and most likely would have been welcomed to as I was very popular among the other male novices but I hadn't spoken to my friends, to Lissa in just under a week. At least not properly, being holed up in the school's hospital wing with a visitor ban forced on you was the right way to miss out on all of the juicy gossip.

I dropped my head against the cool marble table, relishing the cool contact against my already bruised skin.

"You look delicious."

I caught his clove cigarette mixed with alcohol scent before I heard his voice. "Yeah, well I'm too tired to put up a fight." My head turned slightly and my dark eyes opened to find his dark jade eyes staring back at me, a little too closely. "So go…have your wicked way with me." I said closing my eyes and letting out a drained sigh.

"Ah," I didn't need to see him to know that he was smiling, his smile was evident in his voice. "But having my wicked way with you would require an energetic Rose Hathaway, for I would wear you out soon enough." Adrian sat down on the seat beside me and took in deep breath. "Though I have to say, you also smell delicious."

"Maybe I should somehow bottle my scent and send it to you, that way you would hopefully stop making remarks about how you find my sweat so appealing." I lifted my head, folded my arms on the table and settled back down, resting my chin on my arms. "Besides," Turning my head to peer out of the corner of my eye at him, I raised my brow "who's to say it wouldn't be the other way around?" His brow furrowed slightly, trying to follow my train of thought. "Who's to say I wouldn't wear you out first… before we even got started?"

"Is that a challenge?" A hope, eager expression lit his eyes as he stared down at my beaten body.

"Is what a challenge?" Saved by the bell, or rather Lissa and Christian's presence, I glanced away from Adrian to see the impossibly beautiful blonde holding hands with…him. She moved around the table with her little lapdog following her every move and sat down opposite me. Her brow still raised, the question spinning in her head.

"Your little cousin there," I said mocking the way they referred to one another, "Wants to challenge me to a sexathon." I stated as though I was barely interested in the topic, the truth was sex seemed to be on my mind lately, not sex with Adrian. Being locked up for two days with only Cosmo to read was a sure way to get a girl's mind wandering. 'If your boyfriend is lacking in the bedroom, here are ten ways to ensure his success and your bliss.' Of course I didn't have a boyfriend and my sex life was non existent. It was probably a good thing I was training hard with the new guardian, that way all my pent up frustration would be released through violence.

"Oh come on, Rose…" Adrian's eyes twinkled with amusement. "You know you want me!" Cocky, arrogant and self centred…yes they had been my type in the past. Now it was brooding, athletic, tall guardians.

"You're not my type," Sitting up and leaning back in the chair, I was able to pay more attention to my surroundings.

"Dark haired, older guys... I thought that was your type." I turned and looked at Adrian, who in turn winked in my direction as if to say our little secret.

"Rose," Saved again from having to think of some retort that would falsify his claims. Turning my head I watched as Mia walked around the table to sit on the other side of Lissa. "When are we going to start…" She paused trying to find the right words. Leaning in across the table, she whispered, "Our practise sessions?"

It took me a moment to figure what she meant but then it all came flooding back to me. I had promised her after disastrous skip trip that we would make time to practice offensive magic, something which Lissa and Adrian were already doing in their spare time. I could hardly tell the twelve year old look-alike porcelain doll that it wasn't a good idea, I had already promised. "Meet me at three over on the west campus."

"Three?…but that's past curfew." Mia said confused. Our school days were the opposite of the normal, human ones. They attended class during the day and slept at night, where as we attended class during evening hours and slept during the day.

Adrian laughed beside me, enjoying the moment.

"I doubt Kirova's gonna give me a hall pass to help you practice offensive magic," I said explaining. Surely Mia wouldn't have any qualms about breaking school rules…she hadn't in the past.

"Why over at the primary campus?" Christian voiced his confusion.

"Because that's where the pool is…"

Adrian leaned closer in and whispered in my ear. "Is this an closed pool party or can anyone join?" His cool breath ticked my cheek, "Because if I remember correctly, Rose Hathaway in a swimsuit is not to be missed."

"Pervert," I ignored his advances and continued to look at Mia. "It'll be the best place for you to practice as you specialise in water…"

Lissa's mind prodded me again. I turned to look at her. "And yes, it's a closed pool party." She had been debating about asking me whether she could join, just to watch as we practiced. "I think you've been doing enough practicing don't you?"

She eyed me innocently, "I don't know what you're talking about." But the blush on her cheeks told otherwise. "Adrian and I have been practicing with Ms Carmack, you know that Rose."

"I know a lot more than that." I said not explaining further as there was no need. Besides, she hated it that I could... 'spy' on her without any given notice.

Her foot reached under the table and collided with my already bruised shin. She covered her mouth with her hand and quickly apologised as she studied my already bruising skin.

"You lied to me." It wasn't a question. Christian stared across the table at Adrian but his words were for Lissa. This was the one area with Christian Ozera and I agreed on.

"I'm still taking my medication; it's just not working as well as it did…" Lissa frowned and turned her attention to her angry boyfriend. "And anyways, now I'm beginning to understand the spirit element, maybe I'll be able to control it."

"Right," Christian scoffed, taking her arms in hands and turning them upright to stare at the very faint, barely visible scars covering her wrists. "Is that what you call controlling it?" His face darkened and his eyes grew hard. Sure his intentions were coming from a good place, but he was starring to irritate me.

"Back off, Ozera"

"No, it's okay Rose…" Lissa knew that he was only trying to protect her. Well screw her patience understanding ways.

Ignoring her, I stared him down. "I may be broken and bruised…"  
"Don't forget bitchy," Christian added for his own amusement.

"But that doesn't mean I won't climb over this table and literally beat you to death, understand?" How's that for bitchy, you moody ass! Pushing back on the chair, I stood up and glared down at him, hoping that we had an understanding.

"I'd like to see you try," He said raising one brow in my direction as one of his notebooks sizzled alive with flame.

A dry smile touched my lips; this was the kind of interaction I was used to. Sarcastic comments, death threats…not having him save my life and wink at me after AGCT classes. My eyes turned to Lissa, "I'll speak to you later…I've gotta try and get out of these training sessions with Guardian Davies otherwise I don't think I'll be walking by the end of the week."

Lissa nodding wishing me luck, thinking that I was going to take my request to Kirova. Ppfft, like hell I was. She had already made it abundantly clear that I wasn't to make waves when it came to hiccups in the schedule. No, I was going to take my complaints to compassionate ears.

--

Brown, expecting eyes greeted me at the door. He sidestepped and allowed me entrance into his room without questioning. Walking into the bedroom my eyes glanced around, quickly studying it. His small tableside lamp was being used as a reading light; I noted seeing that a paperback book was pressed down next to the base of the lamp. His bed was made but the covers were slightly ruffled no doubt from his six foot six body. I was little put out; here he was resting in his own comfy abode…and he was still fully clothed.

"I know why you're here."

I turned in my white sneakers to stare up at him, confused. "You do?" Of course he did, otherwise his deep, bottomless brown eyes that had greeted me at the door would have been confused rather than anticipating.

"Davies is a distinguished guardian." His tone was rough and his words were forced, apparently they weren't BFF's. "His teaching methods are…" He struggled to find his words.

"Brutal?" I interjected. Dropping my shoulder bag to the floor, I raised my chin in the air slightly so that he could see the bruises that were forming on the side of my neck where Davies staff had beaten through my defences and collided with my skin.

Dimitri closed the distance between us and lifted his hands to my face, cupping my chin with both hands as he examined the damage. He exhaled and muttered something under his breath in Russian. "Have you seen yourself?" Dimitri asked as he removed his hands gently from my face and tilted his head to study my bare arms.

"Well if you think this is bad, you should see him." I bantered, though of course it was a fib. Sure I may have done some damage to him, my wooden staff had made contact with the back of his legs more than three times and had even made contact with the side of his face. "At least it's not on my face," I grinned as I watched him continue to examine me. "I mean we all know what I look like with a purple shiner…" I said referring to that one time when my mother had given me a black eye.

"Sit down on the bed." His voice was completely level as he spoke, his thoughts obviously not reflecting my own.

Walking across the bedroom, I sat down on the edge of the bed watching as Dimitri retrieved something from a drawer. He moved gracefully and silently across the room and sat down on the bed, behind me. My heart moved from first gear straight to fifth and began to bounce around hyperactively in my chest.

His hand touched the side of my temple and moved my head gently, so it was at an angle. Suddenly his hands were on side of my neck, rubbing something cool into my skin.

"Let me guess," I said closing my eyes, content with his touch "some kind of ancient Japanese ointment to cure bruises?" I asked half hoping, there was nothing less sexy than sporting large black and blue marks over your body.

"Vitamin K cream," He spoke as he massaged the cream into my neck, a process which wasn't exactly uncomfortable… "It'll help reduce the bruising." Dimitri stopped massaging my neck and moved his hands to my arms and began to rub the remaining cream on my biceps.

My hands moved to the bottom of my wife beater and lifted it up past my stomach. Dimitri's hands instantly moved from my skin and he stood up, to put distance between my body and his. "I thought you had mastered your control?" I joked, referring to one of our earlier conversations…which happened to take place before one of our few kisses. Lifting the top over my head I dropped it to the floor, grinning as Dimitri looked away from my half naked body. Turning, I sprawled out face forward on the bed with my head touching his pillow. "I can't do my back…" I explained, looking over my shoulder at his stiff stature.

Dimitri finally turned his attention to me and shook his head, as he moved back towards the bed. He placed more cream on his hands before he sat down on the side of the bed, our bodies barely touching. He looked directly into my eyes before turning his attention to my bare back.

I turned my head so that I didn't have to look at him, knowing that I would blush with embarrassment as I spoke. "If the bra straps are in the way…feel free to move them." I had been half naked in front of Dimitri two times previous, the first was when he had caught me making out with Jesse Zekklos and the second was when we were both under a lust spell…only I was wearing a little less then…I had been practically naked.

He let out a deep sigh and whispered my name as his hands went to work on my back, not just applying the cream to my bruised skin but also massaging away the aches and pains in my muscles.

My eyes closed completely satisfied.


	6. Chapter 6

_A/N: Just wanted to say thank you to those who reviewed the last chapter. I hope you continue to review as it makes the writers block which I often suffer from, disappear into the night. And on another note, am just bumping this up from a K+ to the next rating for the sexual content in this chapter and other chapters to come. I had no idea where I was going to take this story and this chapter but I found a route and I hope you enjoy...the beginning is for the Dimitri fans! Also I apologise once again for any improper use of gramma, mis-spellings etc, I do not re-read my work through. I'm lazy that way. _

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My eyelids reluctantly fluttered open and focused quickly to take in the dark surroundings. I was lying on my side with one arm draped over Dimitri's t-shirt covered chest and one leg enveloping one of his thighs. With my head tucked under his arm, I was completely and utterly enclosed in a little nook and realised that I had never felt more safe or content. Blinking the sleep from my eyes I moved from my safe position and climbed up his bed so that my face was level with his. Being more than a foot shorter than Dimitri had always served as an advantage during our training sessions, an advantage for me that is though now I was finding it a pain in the ass.

My hand repositioned from his chest to trace the shape of his brow as my eyes studied his beautiful face.

"Always looking for an advantage," he murmured as his eyes slowly opened and his face turned to look down at me.

I felt my pulse quicken as his dark intense eyes stared deeply into my eyes. "This isn't an advantage," I said regarding my hand which was currently trailing down the side of his cheek. A playful grin played at my lips as my hand moved down his neck to one of his broad shoulders. Gripping onto him I rolled from my side and onto him, quickly repositioning my legs in the process. I was on my knees with my legs either side of him and my butt resting on his lower rock hard abs. My upper body arched forward as my hands pinned his wrists above his head. My long dark hair which he so admired was freed from its ponytail, hung over him, grazing his skin. "…This is" The playful grin continued to dance at my lips.

I was prepared for his usual so called wise response that we should probably work on my self control during our next training session whenever that may be, what I wasn't prepared for was his actual response. His arms broke free of my restraint, unsurprising as I could have only kept him there under my grasp for as long as he wanted me to, sure I was a badass novice but he was a super badass guardian. His hands moved to grip my waist and hips and without breaking eye contact he rolled us over, so that his hard, lean muscled body pressed into mine. If my pulse had quickened earlier, it was now racing towards a finish line.

"Or not…" I gasped. My breathing was heavy and ragged and it had nothing to do with most of his weight leaning on me. "You know maybe this isn't…mmm"

My words were swallowed by his kiss. Our previous kisses had been passionate and heady but nothing like this. His mouth fed intensely on mine as one of his hands shifted to the back of my head and into my thick dark hair.

Oh God. I had been waiting for this moment for what felt like forever. I had been waiting for him to show me some of that passion that had been present when we were almost getting jiggy with it under that stupid lust spell…but this was even better. I was feeding on his desire for me just as Moroi drink from the feeders, though this was an equal measure of want and need.

He pulled his lips from mine and pulled back to watch me with a studious expression, the same admiring one that he used before and after some of our training sessions. My eyes gazed down to my literally heaving breasts which were at this point practically trying to jump out of their black laced confinement.

"Is something wrong?" I asked biting down on my bottom lip, fear beginning to travel through my body, fear of rejection. His brow furrowed as confusion swept his face. "Did I do something wrong?" I rephrased the question

"No I did…I am…" He let what must have been a long depressed sigh. His warm brown eyes no longer held that same lustful glint. Great, trust the goody two shoes guardian instincts kick in now, couldn't he have wanted until after and then they would have been classic morning after regrets.

"You said you had lots to teach me," My voice was ringing my irritation loud and clear, "Well guess what comrade, school's in session!" I reached up and wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling his body back down onto mine. My lips crushed against his and though the kisses didn't hold the same intensity that they did before, he was still kissing me back which I took as a good sign.

My arms moved from his neck now that they were no longer needed to keep him in position and instead moved to the bottom of his t-shirt. It was time to level the playing field, if he was allowed to ogle over my half naked my body then it was only fair if I admired his. I broke our kiss to slowly pull off his t-shirt, sure I may have wanted to expedite things a little quicker so that it gave him little or no time to rethink what we were doing but I couldn't help myself. I wanted to savour this moment.

I stared at his perfect smooth chest as my hands traced the outlines of his abs. He was perfect in mind, body and soul. Lifting myself up off the bed slightly so that I was angled somewhat, my face moved to his chest and I began little kisses on his warm torso, trailing up until my lips found a nipple. As my mouth engulfed it, his breathing became more uneven. "Rose…" His voice was rough but warning as he pulled back from my touch. "This isn't right."

I threw my head back and reached for the pillow beside my head, lifting it to cover my mouth as I let out a frustrated scream. Thankfully it muffled the majority of my sound that if curious ears were listening in they wouldn't have heard. He rolled off of me to the side and placed his head down where the pillow had been. "This isn't right," I quoted into the pillow with a harsh tone; I was beginning to tire of his constant rejection.

He pulled the pillow from my grasp and touched his hand to the side of my face, moving it so that I had to look at him. "You know I want you…"

"Do you?" I asked my voice breaking with the question, "Because it sure as hell doesn't feel like it when you constantly push me away."

"You know why I have to…"

"I thought we had agreed that while I wasn't Lissa's guardian that we would …" I couldn't finish the sentence because we hadn't really agreed to anything. It had been a silent agreement on both of our parts, or at least I thought it had been. And then it occurred to me, sure that had been one of the bigger issues between the two of us but the age difference was also, at least on his part. "You wanna wait until I turn eighteen?" I guessed.

He didn't need to say anything his facial expression spoke volumes. He did want to wait until I turned eighteen.

"UGH!" I sat up on the bed as the frustrated moan escaped my lips. Any other night I would have tried to work my way around him and use the classic Rose Hathaway charm to try and convince him that seventeen years, ten months and twenty two days was practically eighteen. But not tonight, he had ruined my happy, almost erotic dream worthy moment with his stupid bloody morals.

Sliding down to the bottom of the bed, I bent down to pick up my workout t-shirt which had been discarded earlier in the evening when he tentatively applied cream to my bruises. Standing up from the bed I pulled the top over my head and picked up my white sneakers. I hadn't taken them off so Dimitri must have while I was asleep. "Good night, Guardian Belikov" Instead of making my way towards his bedroom door the same way I had entered, I moved over to his closed window.

"What are you doing?" His voice was closer, he had moved off of the bed. It was disconcerting that I hadn't heard the movement, especially considering my so called enhanced senses. Maybe it wasn't me, maybe he was just silent but deadly.

I turned and found myself face to face with him, "Well I can't go out looking like this can I? What would the neighbours think?" Turning my back on him, I quickly slipped on my sneakers and climbed halfway out of the window before a firm hand on my arm stopped me.

"Don't be ridiculous, you can't climb out of the window."

Working my way out of his grip, I shrugged. "Trust me; it wouldn't be the first time." And on that note I climbed out of the window completely and moved across the roof of the academy. Climbing out of windows and choreography my way across the academy's rooftop was an old pastime – I had done it every week before Lissa and I had left, sure it had never been for this reason but the implication that it had would hopefully leave him stewing for a while.

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By the time I had taken a cold shower to cool myself down from my encounter with Dimitri and changed into my all in one black swimsuit, covered by low riding dark denim jeans and a black tank top just in case I was spotted out and about, I was running twenty minutes late to meet Mia over on the west campus for our one on one offensive magic training. Running across the campus grounds towards the primary campus, I bumped into a guardian who was patrolling the grounds.

"Miss…"

The auburn coloured haired guardian whom I had never seen before in my entire life actually called me miss to get my attention. Who said chivalry was dead? I stopped in my tracks and raised my brow at the guardian giving him my best innocent expression, one I hadn't unearthed in a while. "Yes?"

"Your breaking curfew." This was a man apparently of little words.

"Yes." I said acknowledging the rule breaking situation I had caught myself in.

"You'll need to return to your dorm."

"She's with us," I looked past the guardian blocking my way to the west campus and saw Lissa approaching him from behind. He turned and nodded in her direction, acknowledging her royal status.

I should have been questioning myself and reaching out through our blood bond to find out why she was here, but I was too busy festering on the 'us'

"I'm afraid, Princess that both you and your friend are breaking curfew and therefore must return to each of your dormitories. I will escort you." Wow, I was astonished that Lissa had managed to get full coherent sentences from the man of few words.

Lissa lessened the distance between her and the guardian, unearthing the butter wouldn't melt in her mouth smile. She looked directly into his eyes, "You'll go on and continue patrolling, ignoring the swimming pool over on the west campus. You'll forget that you've seen us tonight."

I shook my head at her disparagingly, she shouldn't have been out here in the first place and she most definitely shouldn't have been using compulsion on a guardian. The guardian turned on his heels and walked past me, heading back towards the dorm I had just left. "What are you doing, Liss?" My body turned back to chastise her but instead my dhamphir excelled eyes looked past her and over to the building which hosted the swimming pool. The lights weren't on but there was definitely something going on. "Wait – what did you mean by we?"

"Well…word got out about our…uh, practices."

"Our practices?" I turned my attention back to her. Crossing my arms over my chest, I sighed. "That's funny because I remember telling Mia that I would meet her there…not you, certainly not your fire happy boyfriend or your psychotic so called cousin..." When I referred to Adrian I lifted my hands in the air to air quote the term cousin. They weren't actually blood related but in the Moroi royal court it was how they referred to one another, I personally didn't understand it.

"Rose," Her soft voice grew softer and soothing, trying to stop storm Rose from hitting. "People want to learn how to defend themselves in case there is another attack. I mean look at me," I didn't need to, I already was. "If I had known spells to protect myself, if I had known ways to protect myself with my ability…then maybe you wouldn't have had to come and save me the other night, like you always do."

"Do you think I'm training to become a brain surgeon? No, I'm training to be a guardian and what's the whole purpose of a guardian?" It was a rhetorical question. I would always protect Lissa, even if it was protecting her from herself.

"But what happens if you don't show up?" She rarely doubted my ability to protect her due to our past experiences.

"I'll always show up!"

"You know what I mean, what if like the other night it's an ambush. You're fighting one Strigoi and another turns up. You're a good fighter, Rose but you're not wonder woman!"

"My wonder woman t-shirt says otherwise," I joked. Taking a step closer to her, my hands reached out and held the side of her face. "Besides, I'm not going to be your only guardian." Dimitri was her primary guardian but as soon as I graduate, we would be working side by side to protect Lissa.

"You're making it hard for me to try and prove a point," She pouted. The truth was I understood what she was trying to say but I didn't want to heart it. It made me nervous to think of her using magic again, especially because of how unstable it made her. Mood swings, depression and cutting.

"I get it, I do Liss…I'm just," I decided honesty was going to be the best policy, "worried."

"Don't be," She raised her hands and mirrored my touch, her hands touching the side of my face, her face warm and caring. "What could I possibly do with you and Christian watching me like two hawks?"

My smile faltered and my eyes narrowed at the mention of the wannabe x-men Pyro. "And what does your other half say about this?" I couldn't imagine he was going to be on board with Lissa stopping her medication and restarting her magic.

"He's not too happy," Lissa admitted, "But he says that as long as I'm not hurting myself he wont stand in the way."

"How noble!" Sarcasm ringed through me and my disdain for her boyfriend was very much evident in my voice.

Lissa let out a frustrated sigh, "I thought the two of you were getting on better."

"We were…but it freaked me out, him trying to be my BFF so I've gone back to despising him." My tone turned cheerful as I imagined our next encounter, banter being thrown like punches at one another. It was going to be sweet.

Lissa tutted at me as her hands released my face and instead one of her hands took mine and she began to pull me along towards the swimming pool.

As we entered the pool, my eyes widened and my mouth opened out of shock. "When you said word had got out, I didn't think you meant this…" Half of the senior Moroi class were either in the swimming pool or sitting on one of the deck chairs poolside. In the pool, several Moroi were competing in a race, others were throwing a large white plastic ball back and forth while the majority of them just treaded water, chatting with one another. Crap… I was so going back on probation.

A body pressed up behind me and a set of arms wrapped around my waist. "Shouldn't you be leading the rebellion wearing …less?"

Pulling myself out of his grasp, I turned round and found myself face to face with Adrian. "Shouldn't you be…not here?" Great retort, Rose. I chided myself.

"What and miss out on all the fun?" He shook his head and a playful grin emerged on his lips. "Isn't this the part where you strip?"

I rolled my eyes at him. He was a typical Moroi guy. Lifting my top up and over my head, I threw it onto one of the empty deck chairs and proceeded to unbutton and unzip my low riding jeans. My eyes looked up from my busy hands and found several Moroi guys watching me, their eyes widening. Letting out a deep sigh, I dropped the jeans to the wet floor and kicked them aside. Sticking my index and middle finger into my mouth, I let out a loud whistle to capture everyone else's attention…everyone else who weren't perverts, already ogling my curvy body. Whistles broke out across the swimming pool, if Dimitri's rejection had left my ego bruised earlier this moment certainly boosted it "Listen up…"

"We are all ears and everything else for you, Rose!" I heard a Moroi shout.

"Well keep your everything else in your swim shorts," Girls giggled at my response and the guys simply grinned, expecting nothing less from me. "If you're here to be a pervert and eye fuck the guy or girl next to you, you're in the wrong place. We're not here so you can get down and dirty, we're here …" I couldn't believe I was saying this. "so you can master some sort of control over your elements and possibly even practice offensive magic."

"And how are you going to do that? You don't even have any powers!" A random person called out.

"Its guardian one oh one, pure and simple. You think it's easy to save your ugly looking ass from a Strigoi, Jesse?" Jesse Zeklos was far from ugly but he and spread an unpleasant rumour about me last year so he was going to be my little guinea pig. "The first rule about fight club," I teased, referring to the Brad Pitt and Edward Norton film where people beat the crap out of one another just because they wanted to "Is you don't talk about fight club…and if you do, well then hell have no fury like me pissed off!" I grinned eyeing up the swimming pool, everyone knew my dangerous reputation which had only been reinforced in recent months. "If you think this isn't for you or if you can't follow these rules, get your hands out of your pants and leave now."

No one made an effort to move.

"Okay then…let's learn control." Inside I was laughing at myself how the hell, was I going to teach them control when I hadn't mastered it myself. Was I not, less than half an hour ago throwing my half naked body at my very god like mentor? This was going to be interesting.


	7. Chapter 7

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_Firstly I want to apologise for the delayed chapter, I was struggling with inspiration and ideas. Others call it writers block, but I'm no where near good enough to be called a writer so I wont diminish the idea of that. Secondly again with gramma, spelling mistakes, mistakes in general. It's been a while since I flicked through my VA books (I know, let the flogging begin) and its been forever since I read through any of my writing, so I apologise for those too. Anyways please as always, **review** and hopefully enjoy!_

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The notion of mind over matter had been drilled into me from the very beginning; mastering concentration and control was at the core of guardian training. But how do you translate guardian 101 to magic wielding Moroi students? You don't. I had been blindsided by the nineteen Moroi students who had decided to gate crash my one on one training session with my former nemesis Mia Rinaldi. I should have had a twelve step plan – I should have had any kind of plan, but I didn't. For the past two and half hours I had completed winged the supposed training session with my so called students. Doing the typical Rose-Hathaway-see-how-it-goes method wasn't going to fly here. Damn.

The other students began to vacate the pool, half of them grumbling about how they had wanted to continue the training session which left me dazed and confused. The two and a half hour session had consisted of me basically trying to distract them while they used their magic. I had noted that it was easier to distract those who could manipulate water like Mia – all I had to do was hose each of them down while they were trying to raise the water out of the pool. That had been the only successful test.

"Rose"

I climbed the three step metal ladder and stepped out of the pool, carefully manoeuvring my way around the wet concrete floor. Looking up I saw my best friend, her loser ass boyfriend, her stalking unrelated 'cousin' and little porcelain doll Mia all waiting for me in front of the double doors which led back out onto the quad.

"This was a disaster." My eyes met Lissa's light blue topaz coloured eyes and I sighed, stretching my arms out instantly feeling the burn from yesterdays fight with the new Psycho guardian. "And I blame you." Walking across the floor, I opted to just carry the clothes that I had discarded earlier. I would just have to brave the mid January Montana freezing cold.

"I think it went really well," Both her voice and the emotion she was sending me through our blood bond was encouraging. Bless her; she really did think this so called training session had gone well.

Christian rolled his eyes, obviously not sharing his girlfriend's sentiments. "Liss…" He rubbed her arm gently and eyed me with an evil glare. Ass.

"Liss…" I mimicked his tone and walked closer to the four of them. "All night you've been giving me the evil eye glare you must have inherited from your parents," Hitting bellow the belt, Rose. "Why did you even bother coming?"

"It's not often I get to see the infamous Rose Hathaway fall flat on her ass. I just wanted to savour the moment." Sure he had the ability to create and manipulate fire but he could also be a cold hearted bastard.

And I wanted to kick his ass and savour the moment of him begging me to stop, but I wouldn't, not with witnesses around. "Aw and here was me thinking we were on route to braiding each others hair and painting each others toenails…you know the kind of things BFF's do." True, I had thought our once turbulent mutual dislike for one another was melting away, obviously I was wrong.

"I'd be willing to be your BFF," my eyes glanced over at Adrian who was smirking away like the Cheshire cat; leaning against the wall cross armed, looking like he owned the place. "Pillow fights, cloth-less sleepovers." He winked at me, typical.

"Sure, I'll show you mine if you show me yours." I joked playfully, a little of the old Rose love-them and leave-them wanting more Hathaway.

"I think the next time that it should just be the four of us," Mia interjected, though I wasn't exactly sure which four she was talking about as there were currently five of us standing in the room. It was a safe bet that she wasn't including the charming Ivashkov into our supposed future meeting.

"Next time?" I shook my head, "There isn't going to be a next time." There was one thing I wasn't good at and that was failing at something. It was right there at the top of the list with being picked last for team sports, which only ever happened once when no one had realised this girl was a walking piece of muscle.

"Rose…" Lissa's soothing voice was meant to try and persuade me, without her usual compulsion party trick it wouldn't work. "Think of all the good you could do, how many people you could help."

"What a bunch of acne prone, oversexed, underfed, Moroi brats? If it's all the same I think I'll pass." Walking past the four of them, I looked at Mia's puppy dog eyes and sighed. I wouldn't be any good to her – I didn't have a clue as to what the hell I was doing. Adrian stepped away from the wall and rested a hand on my arm to stop me from walking. His hand felt slightly warm against my cold, wet skin. And while it didn't send chills down my spine the same way Dimitri's touch did, it still did something to me.

"Do you wanna lose a hand?" I asked, looking down at his pale strong hand touching my skin. No, I refused to feel anything for him. It must have been my encounter with Dimitri earlier, I must have been still reeling from the almost sex that took place. There was no way I was feeling anything for Adrian. None what's so ever.

"Depends on how I lose it," His breath brushed against my skin and tickled at my nose. As always I could smell the clove cigarettes and some sort of alcohol bouncing from him. His face leaned in closer, so that his lips pressed against my ear lobe. "Aren't you the least bit curious?" His eyes once again met mine and while I did a silent, unnoticeable swallowing of the trapped air inside my throat, he licked his mouth, biting down on his bottom lip. A little treacle of blood oozed out from the little puncture wounds he had made in his lip.

"Not in the slightest." The other three made their way past us, leaving me to fend for myself. Ha, so much for friendship.

"Yes you are," He grinned placing his mouth once again at the side of my ear. "If I remember correctly, you like older guys."

And suddenly in my mind it was Dimitri standing beside me, his hot breathing pulsing against my skin with his tall, lean muscular body leaning over me. Dominating me. Looking into a pair of blue coloured eyes instead of warm, mysterious brown ones was the only thing stopping me from pretending that the guy standing beside me was the guy I wanted to be standing beside me.

"I do," I admitted. There was no point playing dumb. He knew that my feelings for Dimitri weren't just the usual admiring the guardian kind. It was a two way street, Dimitri liked me, I loved him, and Adrian knew. I turned into his body and slowly tipped on my toes, eluding to the fact that at any point I could give in and give him exactly what he wanted. My lips pressed against his cool lobe, "But I like them sane." Grinning I fell back onto my bare heels and smiled up at him. "Not to mention un-medicated and sober!"

Pushing on the set of double doors and found myself greeted by a frosty chill in the early morning air, one very pissed off looking headmistress and over looking her shoulder was a frowning six foot seven badass guardian aka my would be lover in less than two months.

Opps.

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So I was ninety nine point nine percent sure that not only had old battleaxe Kirova witnessed a part of my so called training session with the other Moroi students but that Dimitri had witnessed the last part of my exchange with Adrian Ivashkov in the swimming pool. The double doors which led into the swimming pool were glass framed by old wooden oak and while I was still an unobservant novice, my tall, dark and handsome man candy was very, very observant. I pondered his interpretation of the scene in my head while Kirova continued on with one of her usual Tolstoy long tirades to me and half of the Moroi senior class.

"This is not acceptable." Her rants were unimaginative and unanimated but today she was shouting and finger pointing at the 'unruly children' sitting before her.

I glanced around the food hall where we had been gathered to listen to the old hag's rant, the majority of the students were half falling asleep in their chairs while the other half were listening intently to Kirova. The guardians were standing up straight against the walls watching both her and us. Dimitri broke his usual composed self and was staring straight at me or more through me, his mouth forming an almost unrecognisable frown. Great, this wasn't going to help me with my quest to be with him.

"Miss Hathaway…"

Kirova calling out my name was the only thing to bring me out of my own world. I turned and looked at her. Fuck. Usually she saved the verbal lashings for more private settings, where no one could hear her lose her cool. Oh well, she was breaking her own rules tonight, why wouldn't she break one more?

"It's very unsurprising to find you at the center of this catastrophe." She folded her arms across her chest and stared me down. "Breaking rules is one of your fortes but endangering the lives of those whom you are training to protect…" She paused mid rant and shook her head, "Well you've out down yourself."

"Endangering?" How the hell had I been endangering them? "Are you fricken kiddin' me?" That familiar rage was burning inside of me; the rage which I now suspected was a form of the dark clouds which I according to Adrian took from Lissa. Standing up in outrage, I stared her down defiantly. "I was trying to help them!" I yelled across the room back at my headmistress whom most likely going to expel me from the academy. "You're preparing them for a life where they will be protected twenty four seven by two possibly more trained guardians, but what happens when a ward gets broken and their guardians are killed? They die!! And all because they don't know how to protect themselves with the magic they inherited." I had seen as much just before Christmas when I had been due to take my Qualifier's exam. Only instead of undergoing my qualifier with the legendary Arthur Schoenberg, I was watching a clean up crew pick up after his bloodied remains. It was all too real for me, maybe she needed it to be a little to real for her too. "Or what if your ward protected, heavily guarded school gets broken into and a girl nearly gets her throat ripped out by a Strigoi?"

Lissa, unlike I wasn't reliving the moment. The vibes radiating through our bond weren't ones from fear but from confidence. Out of the corner of my eye I saw her stand from her chair, her long pretty blonde hair falling down at her shoulders. "Headmistress Kirova, Rose had no idea that we were all going to be there."

"But it doesn't change the fact that you were there." Kirova spoke through her teeth, undoubtedly trying to reel herself back from her outburst.

"Yes we were," Lissa nodded in agreement. "But can't you see why?" Lissa raised her hands in the air and motioned to the rest of the senior class. "What is the point of practicing element control when we don't know how to protect ourselves with our abilities? And Rose is right," She turned and regarded me with kind eyes, "Without our guardians protecting us, without this knowledge… we die." She turned back and gazed at Kirova. "I know this, because I almost did."

I swallowed remembering all too graphically how close I had been to losing her. The Strigoi had been so close to taking her life when I had shown up and gone all Rambo, kicking doors down and throwing myself in-between my best friend and those deadly razor sharp fangs which threatened her. And suddenly I found our roles reversed. Lissa had always been the weak one relying on my strength to pull her through the darkness but now it was different. She was different.

Headmistress Kirova unfolded her arms from across her chest and asked Lissa and I both to sit down. She let out a deep sigh and then informed us that after the attack at the school had prompted the council to put forward the notion that both Moroi students and other Moroi who wished to learn should be able to practice offensive elemental control. "The council and the Queen have yet to reach a decision on that matter…however it has been decided that Moroi students should be allowed the option to practice defensive elemental control under the guidance of a Moroi who has mastered this control."

I was confused. Was there a difference between defensive and offensive elemental control? Surely defensive could easily be turned into offensive? And what the hell did she mean under the guidance of a Moroi who had mastered defensive elemental control? Wasn't that illegal?

"From Monday, Moroi students will be given the opportunity to learn control under Miss Ozera."

I looked up from the floor and turned instantly to meet his dark awaiting eyes. What a reunion, little 'Dimka' and Tasha back together again, I thought bitterly to myself.

After Kirova dismissed the rest of the senior class, she privately informed that while I wasn't expelled, hallelujah, I was back on probation. It was harsh considering that I hadn't been the ringleader in this little circus.

"Rose," Dimitri called to me in front of others which meant that I couldn't very well pretend that I hadn't heard him. Stupid hierarchy, if I weren't obliged to follow him and his rules I would have high tailed it out of the food hall. Lissa half waved in my direction before following Christian out of the room.

Watching as the room slowly emptied, I turned and faced my mentor hoping that my less than impressed glare would outweigh my droopy sleepy eyes. I hadn't been given the chance to change into something more comfortable or warmer before Kirova's bitch fest but I had put my hooded top on to cover some of my modesty. The top reached over my waist and was resting happily between my waist and knees.

"What were you thinking?" His tone suggested that he wasn't angry. Surely he should have been finding me whispering what could have been sweet nothings into Adrian Ivashkov ear. No, he was probably too excited thinking about the return of his sweet Tasha.

I shrugged, deciding not to answer his question. Instead I met his question with one of my own. "Did you know?"

"Did I know what?" He asked confused.

"Did you know she was coming?" I usually avoided his eyes when I didn't want to hear his answer, but this time I was staring straight into them, waiting. Dimitri had been given the opportunity to be Tasha's guardian, among other things only a few weeks back.

"Yes." It was a good thing that he was a man of few words, because he could have put himself in hotter water than he was already in.

"Right…and you didn't tell me because?" I knew why of course but I couldn't help myself.

He just stared at me, ignoring my question.

"Well it'll be just like old times, right Dimka?" I said his name the same way Tasha used to, mocking her, though she was undeserving of my cruelty as she had been nothing but nice to me.

He sighed frustrated, once again breaking his cool guardian composure. I was the only person who knew that Dimitri hadn't mastered his control completely, at least not like others thought he had. "You're acting like a child." It seemed to be his thing, to call me a child whenever we were having a heated debate. Sure enough I was acting like one, but I couldn't help myself.

I was angry at him for not telling me that she was coming back, I was angry at Kirova for letting this 'amazing' woman teach Lissa and everyone else elemental control but more importantly I was jealous. And heck, jealousy was apparently one of my stronger emotions…one that overrode everything else, common sense, good judgement, sanity…"Well according to you I am so while I'm off acting like a child and being one for the next month and eight days, why don't have a little R rated fun with your girlfriend!" I spat the words at him before skulking away out of the room like a selfish, jealous girlfriend.

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	8. Chapter 8

_AN: Again apologies for any gramma, spelling or mistakes regarding the VA world. I hope you enjoy and please review :)_

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I had been dreading the start of the new school week much like a teenage girl dreads a bursting red pimple on the day of her prom. For the last few days I had been recovering from my one on one with Nazi guardian Davies which had left me black and blue, thankfully those nasty little war wounds were fading into my skin, with random yellow splotches of the bruises only remaining. I had also been doing a great impersonation of a CIA agent on a black ops mission, sneaking into the shadows of the school to avoid a certain favourite guardian of mine. My shrieking outburst had left me completely red faced and squirming in my white Nike sneakers.

Of course, a part of me felt like I had a justified reason for being a little ticked off. After all, he had known that Tasha Ozera, Christian's aunt, the physically scared yet beautiful woman who had offered Dimitri a once in a lifetime opportunity to become her guardian which came with fringe benefits was coming to the academy to teach, indefinitely. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that I was feeling a little threatened by her presence. Okay maybe a lot threatened.

Then to top off my insecurities I was sporting some serious weird black mojo which made PMT look like kittens and puppies. Adrian's comment about how darkness surrounded me continued to haunt my thoughts, of course I knew that outcome of such darkness, cue in one ranting, slightly psychotic teenage girl who looks, sounds and dresses like me. But who could I talk to about these random fits of rage that I was suffering from? The school's shrink? That old bastard hated me. Headmistress Kirova? Yeah, that would be one hell of a bonding session! She wouldn't believe me; she'd even think that I thought this entire thing up so it could be used as a get out of jail free card. Lissa would worry too much and blame herself which would more than likely lead to a downward spiral causing her to start cutting herself again. Adrian was usually too medicated or too drunk to partake in a meaningful conversation – not to mention I wouldn't even go down that road, he would find a way to use my situation to his advantage on his quest to get me naked. Mia was a no-go simply because if things changed between us she wouldn't hesitate to use the information against me and Christian, well if I wanted a sarcastic comment then he was my go to guy.

Then there was Dimitri. Even after my childish outburst he would still take the time to listen to me, both out of his duty as my teacher and out of love, or whatever it was he felt for me.

"Miss Hathaway."

I turned in my white sneakers and found myself face to face with Guardian Davies who was still sporting a black eye from our encounter a few days earlier. Apparently he didn't know about Vitamin K cream.

"The AGCT class has been suspended until the end of the school day." A small grin was playing at his lips as he informed of the change of schedule. In that way he was unlike his fellow guardians who usually kept a stiff upper lip during working hours.

"Why?" I asked, curiosity getting the better of me.

"It needs to be near dawn before we go on our excursion." He was looking at me in a very impish way.

"We'll still be doing advanced guardian combat techniques though, right?" I asked, hopeful. The need to get physical with someone was overwhelming; it helped keep the unexplainable dark rages at bay for a while probably because the anger was being channelled through my fists.

"Yes. Remember to bring your training mitts and dress appropriately." He watched my confused reaction and specified, "No gym clothes. We'll be venturing out of the school grounds during the day so take that into consideration." Having a conversation with him was different from having a conversation with the other guardians; he was more laid back and less rigid with his words and his body language. "We're meeting in the gymnasium at approximately six am."

That meant I could get a quick shut eye before our little adventure in the unknown. "Anything else?" A part of me, a large part was hoping that he would tell me to consider which weapon I would like to take with me.

"Yeah," His frame stiffened and his eyes became hard. "You're late for your session with Belikov." I remembered quickly that he disliked novices being tardy for class.

I nodded and turned to continue my way towards the gymnasium. Before running into Davies, I had had no intention of turning up for my required early morning training sessions with Dimitri. Instead I was going to run a few laps around the school field to kill some time before classes started. However the news of a field step not only put a skip into my step, it also put me instantly into a better mood. Goodbye PMT and hello mysterious outing.

Pushing on the double doors to the gymnasium, I stepped inside. The lights were on and the practice dummies were out which meant that Dimitri was about somewhere, probably brooding. He was such a good brooder.

Walking further inside, I threw my school bag across the room and watched as it hit the wall and quickly fell to the floor. Stepping onto one of the work out mats, I turned my back to the door and began to stretch.

Five minutes later, all warmed up and ready to rock I glanced over to the double doors and watched as Dimitri walked in. The apology that was hanging on the tip of my tongue abruptly disappeared back down my throat as Tasha walked in behind him.

"Rose!" Her voice was warm and welcoming. Quickening her step she walked past Dimitri and across the gymnasium towards me. "It's so lovely to see you again." She stopped short a foot away from me, how wise of her.

"It's nice to see you too," I lied. My voice and fake smile gave nothing away, my sentiments seemed sincere.

"I hope you don't mind me crashing your session, but I had mentioned to Dimitri that I would love to see a guardian in training in action." She turned and looked up at Dimitri, whose dark brown eyes were on mine. "He mentioned that you might have skipped this morning's session, but I'm glad you haven't!"

It took a titanic effort to keep my smile in place, but I did, shockingly. "Well, I haven't been feeling myself lately." I admitted honestly, a little vulnerability showing through my façade. "But I'm ready to kick some ass."

"Maybe…"

"No, I'm ready." I interrupted Dimitri and turned around to walk towards the end of the work out mat. God knows I was ready. Ready to fight.

Tasha made her way across the gymnasium and sat down at the desk which Dimitri often watched me practice from. Instead of moving to the other side of the mat, Dimitri crossed the large workout mat to me. His eyes no longer looked into mine, but instead were examining my exposed body. My cheeks warmed as a blush escaped, feeling his eyes on me.

"How are the bruises?" He sidestepped around me, very gently lifting the side of my arms to inspect the yellow bruises. To a watchful eye, Dimitri looked like a concerned teacher but us it was much more than that.

"They're healing." I responded coolly, trying my hardest to ignore the chaos that was happening inside of my stomach, the result of his touch. He circled my body and once again stood in front of me, his 6'7 stature leaning over me. My eyes hardened despite my quickening heartbeat. "I'm ready for a few more."

Tasha made her excuses and left halfway through the session stating that she needed to getting ready for her first class. Dimitri and I continued our one on one spar and for the better part of it I had remained professional. As usual we stopped so he could tell me what I was doing wrong or what I could be doing better and I applied his notes to my attacks and as usual he was right.

Dimitri had me in a headlock with my body bent over at an angle. "In this position," He began but instead was stopped from the impact of my foot in his face. It was a move that I had picked up during my and Lissa's time away from the academy. While Lissa slept during the day, I killed time by watching various TV shows. His grip loosened slightly giving me the perfect opportunity to break away from the headlock and to get back in a fighting stance.

I looked over to the clock on the wall; it was five minutes past the end of our session. "Are we done here?" I asked, defiantly.

"No, Rose." Dimitri recovered from my blow almost instantly and stood up straight. "We're not done here."

"Well I'm going to be late for my next class…" Or not. I paused remembering that my AGCT class had been postponed until the end of the day. Instead of asking him what he meant, I turned around and walked across the classroom towards my black satchel bag, determined to get the hell out of the gymnasium and away from him.

In an instant he was in front of me, his face no longer holding that hard, impenetrable, professional expression. "We need to talk…"

"About how cosy you were looking with your apparent BFF?" I shot back instantly with my usual quick wit. "Thanks, but I think I'll pass."

"I'm worried about you, Rose."

I looked up into his deep dark eyes and wanted to completely lose myself in them. "Worried in what way?" I asked curiously, trying to determine which role he was in at the moment, mentor or ….whatever we were.

His hand reached forward and stroked the side of my face. Okay, I guess that answered that question. A half smile touched his lips as his eyes swallowed me whole.

"I'm just-" I closed my eyes, beating back the tears that wanted to escape. I could go for the whole I'm tired excuse, but I doubted he'd buy that. Opening my eyes, I stared back up at him my vision blurred from the captured tears. "I've got like a constant case of PMT," I slapped myself internally, great way to word it, Rose! "One minute I'm fine, I'm myself and the next I'm bitching you out for no good reason" I doubled back, "well not no good reason, I mean you could have told me that she was coming…" I managed to stop myself before beginning another unjust rant. "See!"

Dimitri arms snaked around my waist, hugging me to his body. My head rested against his covered chest as the tears began to fall freely from my eyes. "Everyone has light around them, except for you. You have shadows. You take them from Lissa." I muffled Adrian's words into Dimitri's chest, as once again my irrational hormones took over everything else.

--

I hated admitting defeat. But my little breakdown with Dimitri had been my downfall, at least that's the way I looked at it. He had cancelled the rest of my classes for the day and hauled me off to meet with Dr Richard Balder, the school's shrink. Dimitri of course had brought me here out of concern for my well being; apparently my ominous statement had pushed his worry from 0-60 in less than two seconds. Having a catch up with the quack wouldn't have been so bad if it was just the two of us, but my little breakdown was going to be a crowd pleaser. Kirova, Dimitri, Dr Olendzki and for some reason unknown to me Tasha Ozera were all here to watch the drama unfold.

"Miss Hathaway…"

I stared across the desk at Dr Balder and grinned, "Doc, it's been too long."

"Yes," He didn't return my grin, instead he glanced down at the thick file sitting on his desk. I had to his office several times in the past, usually just to have a little fun by claiming various psychiatric problems. "Still seeing dead people?" He eyed me through the top of his glasses.

Before hightailing it out of the academy with Lissa two years ago, we had watched along with the rest of the class the Sixth Sense which while an entertaining movie was also new material for me to work with. "Sadly no," I decided it would probably be best not to turn and see the expressions of those sitting behind me.

"So what is it today?" He asked closing the file and regarding me sceptically.

"I missed your company," I retorted before being tutted from behind. "Fine… okay, so I have a friend.." I paused, "Well he's not actually a friend…he's more of an unwanted acquaintance who has this ability to be a complete and utter pervert and stalk people's dreams…" I turned my head slightly and glanced over my shoulder at the adults sitting in the back of the room, my eyes met Dimitri's. That was something he didn't know. Guiltily I turned my attention back to the head case Doc. "anyways so he dream hopped into mine and made some comment about how I was a freak because everyone's surrounded by light and I'm the only one who's covered head to toe in shadows." I sat back in the chair and placed my hands behind my head, waiting for his analysis. Having put the breakdown behind me, the vulnerable Rose Hathaway was missing in action and instead fun loving Rose Hathaway was out to play. "So what's your verdict, Doc? You gonna fit me up with a one piece jacket and throw away the key?" I asked referring to a straight jacket.

Dr Balder looked back down at the close file and stared intently at the front page, as though it would give him the answer. Or maybe he was just hoping that I would crack under the pressure and confess to making it all up. "You suffer from a blood bond, with Miss Dragomir, is that correct?"

He looked back up at me and I nodded.

"Then dare I guess that the person you supposedly take shadows from is her highness?"

It pissed me off when they used titles like that. Surely it was too archaic? Again I nodded, wondering where all of this was leading.

Dr Balder sat further back in his chair, obviously having decided that I was for once inside of his office because of something real. "There had been studies…" He paused trying to find his words. "Not much is known about the blood bond, it's been a century or two since one has been reported and even the past cases haven't been thoroughly documented." Apparently I wasn't the only one interested in this topic. "Do you have any symptoms? Have you been acting any differently than you usually do?"

I thought of a quick retort but decided to shelve it just for now, besides I probably wouldn't get applauded for playing around. "I'm bitchier than usual," I admitted.

"Anything other than a symptom of being a teenage girl?" he asked condescendingly.

"I've been suffering from uncontrollable outbursts," I thought back to bitching out Dimitri a few nights back and shuddered silently. "It feels like there's darkness or something inside of me which is fighting to get out."

"Are there any particular times when you feel like this?" He asked, "During times stress?"

"More when I'm annoyed or angry" Like I was beginning to feel; with the twenty question interrogation.

"And these feelings usually subside during your training sessions?"

"Usually" Unless my mentor brings a tag along in form of one of his lady friends, I added silently. The room was quiet after my response, the doctor sitting opposite me was more than likely contemplating how to get me quietly into a straight jacket.

"Are there any other symptoms?"

"What, that not enough for you cowboy?" I asked through gritted teeth.

"Miss Hathaway…" Kirova chided me from behind.

Rolling my eyes, I stared the good doctor down and waited silently for his diagnosis.

Dr Balder took the glasses off of his face and dropped them to the table, his hands going straight to his scalp which was seriously lacking hair. "I honestly…don't know what we're dealing with. It's obvious that her outbursts of rage are connected with her blood bond," No shit Sherlock.

"Hey, can you stop talking about me and start talking to me?" I moved on my chair and blocked his view to the headmistress.

"If you don't mind me saying," Tasha interrupted, "I think the best thing for Rose would be to keep channelling her rage through her training sessions as it seems to be working?" She wasn't making a statement she was asking me whether or not the sessions were helping. I didn't bother to turn in my chair, instead I just nodded.

"That's hardly a resolve to the situation," That did make me turn in my chair. Dimitri, who always kept his cool, was shooting Tasha a disapproving glare.

"If you let me finish," Tasha smiled kindly at him ignoring his glare and looked directly at me. "Rose, I'd like to have a few sessions with you to see if we can find a way to control your…" She paused, finding her wording "emotions, because that's what they are."

"I'm afraid that these outbursts may only be just the beginning." The shrink added, "Or they may not be. I insist that Rose should see me at least once a week so we can track this atypical issue."

"Great so on top of my class schedule and getting prepared for the upcoming trials, I also have to have weekly visits to the see shrink… well that's just great!" I spat back sarcastically. Tasha's offer to help me with control was understandable, she had obviously mastered in long ago. If she hadn't well then I probably would have been set alight at Christmas after my rude behaviour towards her.

"I'll see you next Monday, Miss Hathaway."

I glared at Dr Balder and stood up from the chair, having been clearly dismissed.

"I'll meet with you later Rose to discuss when you'd like to begin our sessions." Tasha threw me another warm smile.

Dimitri followed me out of the shrinks office and walked silently by my side. The hallways were deserted due to everyone else being in class. "I cant believe you sold me out!"

Dimitri continued his silence as we walked.

"I mean really? Dr Balder? The man hates me with a passion!"

"He's looking out for your best interests." He turned and regarded me, "We all are."

"If I didn't have this secret black ops mission to look forward to later than I would so use my inner rage to go all psycho Rose on you." My words were harsh but my tone wasn't, it was more playful than anything.

He scowled.

"I was kidding…"

"It's not that." He stopped in the hallway and looked down at me from his ridiculous height. "It's the AGCT field trip…" He didn't say anymore, instead he continued on his path. I followed behind him, trying to figure out his cryptic response.

"Couldn't I have just had extra self control training with you?" Surely keeping my hands off of him in a non professional way during our training sessions was the best way to learn self control?

"Tasha's a good teacher and despite your reservations she has mastered her control, more so than anyone I've ever met." Of course he put himself into that category, our kiss in the gymnasium back before Christmas was enough proof of his lack of self control.

"Still it'd be more fun with you."

--

At lunch all anyone could talk about was the newest teacher to the academy fold. Obviously Christian was happy to have his aunt at the school but so was Lissa and Mia. The three of them were talking animatedly as I approached the table about how they couldn't wait for the first lesson. Sitting down beside Mia, I threw my black satchel onto the table top.

"Where have you been?" Lissa looked at me, her light jade eyes searching for an answer. I should have sensed her concern earlier but my own obscured feelings were overpowering our blood bond.

"It had been a while so I thought I would pay Balder a visit," I decided to skip the details; there was no sense in her worrying her with all of this.

"Rose," She sighed, "What was your excuse this time?"

"Oh I decided to go off the books with this one…where's your stalker?" I asked looking around the school courtyard for Adrian, hoping that would deter her away from the current topic of conversation.

"I think you mean your stalker!" She rolled her eyes and pulled her long blonde hair back into a high pony tail. "He's with the feeders."

"Jealous? Wishing it were you?" Christian piped in, which resulted in an elbow in the ribs from Lissa. Christian's attitude towards me had gone past our usual snarkieness and straight into vicious.

"What's your problem, Ozera?"

"You…you're my problem." Christian pushed back from the table causing the chair to scrape loudly against the floor. He stood up and glared down at me. "You're always there!" He complained.

Pushing back on my chair and making the same loud scrape against the floor, I stood up from my chair. "Well you could solved this problem weeks ago." I clenched my hands together into tight fists and rested them against the table, leaning over it slightly. "Next time the school's getting attacked, turn up thirty seconds later, I'll be dead, Lissa will be fine and you'll have saved the day! I mean that's the problem right? You hate that I'm the one saving Lissa, you wanna be her knight in shining armour!" I guessed.

"You don't know what you're talking about," He spat back at me and without another word skulked off out of the courtyard.

Looking down at Lissa, I frowned. "Get your boyfriend on a leash otherwise I'm gonna put him down."

I walked away to cool down.

--

Dress appropriately he had said. It was 5.45am and here I was standing in front of a mirror in almost pitch black trying to determine what to wear. We were going off of campus during daylight hours which meant possible interaction with normal people. "Dress appropriately." It had taken my twenty five minutes to apply some make up and pull my hair back into a neat pony tail, which showed off my molnija marks. There was no way I was going out in sweats, no makeup with worn and torn trainers especially when there was a possibility Dimitri would be there too. It may have been shallow but I figured whatever we were going to be doing for our class outing wasn't going to be affected if I was looking a little nice.

I got dressed pretty quickly, opting for a pair of black skinny jeans, a black tank top and black knee high boots with steel capped toes. They were comfy and despite the heel, I could pretty much do anything in them; walk, run and fight.

By the time I arrived at the gym, everyone else was already inside. Everyone was dressed in jeans and various top, including the guardians.

"Late again Miss Hathaway," Guardian Davies spoke up and appeared in front of the novices. "It seems we're going to have to break that nasty habit of yours…another time." He turned back and faced the other novices, and continued. "Alright listen up! We'll be driving to Missoula to take part in a two part exercise. The first part will test your observational skills…the second part will test your practical skills. You will be partnered with other novices, your objective will be to track down and eliminate your enemy."

"And who's that?" Dave, a fellow novice asked.

He motioned around to the other guardians in the room. A cry of "YES'S" echoed through the room. For them it was payback. For me it was still practice. If we could beat them or at least hold our own, it meant that we were ready for the trials. It meant that I was one step closer to becoming a guardian.


	9. Chapter 9

It was an incredibly stupid move on my part, a stupid move which had me sticking out like a sore thumb against my classmates. They were all dressed warmly in hooded sweatshirts and jeans and here I was freezing my ass of in a black tank top and skinny jeans that were designed to show off the curves I had inherited from my mother. Even sitting next to the air vent oozing out warm air, I was still covered head to toe with goosebumps. Guardian Davies had given me the option just before we left the academy to run back to my room to get a jacket but I had insisted that I would be fine, an insistence I was now paying for.

"For you first assignment," Alberta stood, crouched down slightly to address us, "you and a partner will be given a location to asses. During your assessment you will be required to take note of easy points of entry, any obstacles that obstruct entry and exits points, how many exit points there are, where they lead, which would be the best for an exit strategy and so forth. During your assessment you will also need to know how many inhabitants are in your location and if any of them are suspect, if they are make note of why they are. All of this information is required for a detailed report you will submit to Guardian Davies, Guardian Belikov or myself by the end of tomorrow." She paused and looked Deacon Lane knowingly, "And keep in mind that we already have detailed reports from these locations, so if you feel like winging it I high suggest you don't." Alberta allowed herself a small grin before continuing. "For your second assignment you will be putting your observational skills to good use by doing a thorough sweep of the premises where hostiles," She used her hands to motion towards the guardians sitting behind her "will be waiting, armed and dangerous." Alberta leaned across and picked up a small paint ball gun. "All guardians will have one as will you. If you are shot with one of these you must remove yourself from the location and return to the minibus." She turned back and tossed the miniature paint ball gun back onto her seat. "And here are your words of wisdom." Instead of continuing she turned on her bended knees and made her way back to her seat.

"Communication is key," Dimitri moved around in the minibus and unlike Alberta kneeled in front of us which was probably wise considering he had a good foot on Alberta's height. "It is vital for you all to stay in contact with one another, without doing so you'll be going in blind." Dimitri's dark eyes turned and met mine. "Think of this as practice for future assignments as a Guardian." Which wasn't me, no my future was already set. I was going to be Lissa's guardian, not a freewheeler. There were a select few guardians who travelled the world seeking out Strigoi and facing them head on. Essentially they were giving up everything. At least by being a hands on guardian you were able to make a connection with someone, your life still resembled a life.

"And don't forget" Guardian Davies chimed in from the drivers seat, while Dimitri's dark gaze never left mine. "Know your opponents; know their strengths, their weaknesses. Use it against them to gain the upper hand, because we will be using your faults against you." Davies, the spokesman for candidacy, making you feel nervous

Dimitri took in a slight deep frustrated sigh, one that only I noticed because of my devote obsession with him. 'Know their weaknesses.' Well I already knew one of Dimitri's – me.

"And what exactly are your weaknesses?" I asked, directing my question at Davies who had apparently organised this little field trip. "I mean I think it's only fair that we know some things about all of you considering you all know what grade we're fighting at and what manoeuvres we're likely to use…you know considering you taught us them."

In the rear view mirror I watched as Davies smiled openly, "Hathaway I've already been at your mercy once this week," He lifted one of his hands from the steering wheel and pointed at the light purple eye he was sporting. "Apparently your left hook is my weakness."

Openly smiling and bantering with me, if only my encounters with Dimitri could be like this. "Funny as I recall you didn't like a heel to your quadriceps either," And that day during our sparing session I had been barefoot, I could only imagine the pain my three inch heels would do to his thigh this time around. And besides its not like the guy didn't deserve it, he had given me some serious black and blue marks.

"Looks like Hathaway's our girl," Max shouted from the back row of the minibus. Before Dimitri I would have been sitting at the back with the so called cool kids, causing trouble and having a laugh but now things were different, I was different. Okay so maybe I still had a tendency to cause a little trouble but now it was more involuntary than voluntary.

"Right," I scoffed turning in my seat to get a better look at the back of the bus. Max was resting his chin on the chair in front, watching me. "Like I would seriously lead you losers into the wolf's den, you'd use me as a human sacrifice just to gain some ground."

"No way," Max shook his head and grinned over at me. His blue eyes sparkling, wanting to play. "It's all for one and one for all, baby." He finished his quote by winking at me.

Max had in recent months crept up the popularity ranks because of his sudden growth spurt. He was no longer a gangly teenage boy with ears too big but now a lean, well muscled novice in training. And his ears, well they were cute in a Will Smith kind of way. His new found body and good looks could have in the past made him a viable contender for a little Hathaway one on one time. "Don't call me baby…" I leaned further up on my chair pressed my body into the chair behind me. "You haven't got what it takes to play that game with me," I winked back at him, a little of my old self coming out to play.

"Aw come on, Rose…where's the love?"

"The same place it always is when it comes to you, Max…in whichever hand you like to play with." If my comment earlier hadn't gotten the other students in hysterics, that one did the trick. The guardians did the same as they always did when it came to listening to the chatter of teenage novices, tuning out. Maybe Dimitri considered engaging in such mindless banter as childish but it was fun and most importantly it killed some time on an otherwise long and boring journey.

Upon leaving the bus we were instructed to pair up and collect the envelopes containing our location and our meet point for the second task. If this little outing had taken place two or three months ago, my partner in crime would have been Mason. He would have loved today, not only being able to get out of the confinements of the academy but also to go one on one with guardians. Mason used to love AGCT classes which were based on hand to hand combat. As it was, I was waiting to see had picked the short straw.

"Here." Dimitri stepped away from the minibus holding a brown envelope in one hand and his black hooded sweatshirt draped over his arm. He handed me the brown envelope followed by his black hooded sweatshirt.

"Okay, I get the envelope but what's with your hoodie?"

"You'll need it," He looked up at the lightening sky and then back at me. "It's gonna be cold today."

"You wont need it?" I asked handing him back the envelope so that I could put the hooded top on. As the top went over my head I took a long deep breath, inhaling his intoxicating aftershave. Damn, I swear it was like an aphrodisiac.

"I'll be setting up the second task." He spoke no more of the subject, obviously trying to keep the second task a secret. Like I cared…well I did.

"You know," I said changing the subject, "You shouldn't have given me your top, what will the others think?" I asked playfully, hoping to get one of my usual half smiles from him. It didn't work.

"A top is just a top," He informed me, pretending that his giving me his hooded sweatshirt was the norm in a guardian-novice relationship.

"Yeah well to them it may just be a top but to me it symbolises a step forward in our relationship." A grin played at my lips as my eyes stared intently into his. "Who knows what the next step could entail," I joked before taking the brown envelope from his hands and turning in my steel capped toe boots to find out who would be my partner for the exercise.

--

It only seemed natural to pair the only two girls in the class together. Meredith and I were given the task of scoping out the Missoula's city center mall, which I imagined was the hardest task offered given the amount of entry and exit points there were. The majority of shops in the mall had their own fire escape which counted as one entry/exit point. That had been the easy part, the hard part; finding out if anything was obstructing these exit points and determining whether any of these exits would be instrumental in a situation. Sure fire safety rules indicated that all fire exits were to be kept cleared but who could trust busy employees during rush hour to keep up with the mandatory regulations.

"Hi, I'm Rose." I entered American Apparel and immediately approached the nearest male sales person, knowing that I would more than likely keep his attention longer than a female sale assistant. "I was just wondering if you could help me," Behind my back I motioned with my index finger for Meredith to go and take note of the exit. This little routine of ours was a well oiled machine, each of us taking in turns to distract the employees of the store while we did a little reconnaissance. "I'm looking for a brand new outfit that will make my ex see red and I figured who best to help me than a gorgeous red blooded American man like yourself," Unearthing the man eater smile I had once been known for and he was hooked, lined and sunk.

After being ogled for nine minutes, Meredith remerged from the fire escape with her notepad in her hand, nodding at me that we were done here. "Well thank you…" I glanced down at the name badge he wore on his chest. "Charlie, you've been most helpful." Unlike Lissa I had no powers of compulsion but my flirting was a prowess on its own.

"Tell me that's everything," I sighed frustrated after our three hour and twenty five minute sweep of the Missoula mall. In our three hour sweep we had scoped out the easy entry points, the best exit points and profiled selected individuals and made notes in our note books about; their appearance, why the seemed suspect and any other information that would be considered integral to a report.

"That's everything." Meredith wasn't the typical A-girl guardian; she was taller and leaner than most, more than likely inheriting something from her father's Moroi side. Her auburn coloured hair was cut short like a pixie; she was possibly preparing herself for future Molnija marks. "You wanna grab a bite to eat and do a little shopping? I mean why waste the opportunity, right?"

"Right," I looked around and figured that I could do with a new lip balm among other things. It was a good thing that I had stuffed my left boot with some cash, just in case. It had been a while since I had been on a shopping expedition. The last time I had hit a mall was as a practice run, guarding Lissa. "What should we hit first?"

During our little shopping trip I had bought myself a coconut flavoured lip balm, hoping that the next time my lips met Dimitri's they would be coated in this fruity balm. I had also bought myself a book to read on the journey home and some new Benefit makeup. Meredith had taken it a step further and bought herself practically a new wardrobe with three new tops, jeans and some new lingerie. She informed me that she too hadn't been shopping in over a year, so she was more than entitled to treat herself to a little something.

We opted to eat lunch in the food court, Meredith chowed down on a Pepperoni pizza while I filled my stomach with a little chicken chow mien, which sure beat the food they were serving back at the academy. For the better part of the morning we had been engaging in mindless chit chat, but she suddenly upped her game and was moving forward with the three pointers.

"So why have you dropped off the radar? I mean before you left school with Lissa, you were like …" She paused trying to find her words, "I don't…the queen bee?" Wrong, Lissa had been the Queen Bee; I had been one of her ladies in waiting. "I mean you used to be all about the party, everyone knew if you wanted to have a good time you'd bring Rose to the party but now when there's a dorm party you're nowhere to be found."

"Lissa and I, well after everything that happened I guess we just decided to stay under the radar."

"Right," Meredith scoffed, "Well you're not doing a very good job." Meredith leaned across the table and quietened her voice, as though someone was listening in on our conversation. "Lissa's dating Christian Ozera and the totally gorgeous Adrian Ivashkov is drooling over you."

I benched a shudder at the thought of Adrian and I. Sometimes I entertained the idea of what it would be like if I wasn't completely and insanely head over heels in love with my mentor, but Adrian was a poor substitute for Dimitri. Anyone would have been. "Yeah well Adrian can keep on drooling cause that's never gonna happen."

"Ugh," She threw herself back in her chair, "Do you know what I would give to be in your shoes? This is our time for reckless fun because in less than six months its goodbye life and hello lifetime of servitude."

"I guess." Meredith was right. Not about the lifetime of servitude because I didn't look at being Lissa's guardian like that, but about saying goodbye to reckless fun. I wasn't going to have the opportunity to have any Dimitri/Rose fun after graduation because he would turn all stoic, profession guardian on me.

"Slacking on the job?" Max's velvet voice sailed through the buzzing food court to where Meredith and I were sat. Turning my head, I glanced over my shoulder and watched as he and three others approached our tables. "I can think of other, more productive ways to kill some time if you're interested, Rose?" He sat down opposite Meredith and again winked at me.

"Where did all of this cockiness come from?" I asked curiously, he had never been so forward with me or anyone before. If anything he had been a little shy in the past, but then again he hadn't looked like that in the past.

"Just taking note of what captures your attention," He turned and glanced around the food court "though apparently you've captured every male with a heartbeat's attention."

It was true; Meredith and I had equally turned a couple of heads when we had made our entrance into the food court. We were more like humans than Moroi where and yet we still stood out among them. "Some of us just have natural charm…" Sitting further back in my chair, I crossed my arms over my chest.

"Or charms," His attention seemed to fixate over my chest.

"You know that's the best way to lose an eye," Max's eyes rose to meet mine, "That's better."

"See you gotta play nice in order for me to share my Intel." Max sat further back in his chair, resting his hands on the back of his head acting like the King of the hill.

Meredith elbowed him in the gut as I stamped on his foot under the table causing him to swear out loud and to gather a few more looks from civilians.

"Think of that as us playing nice."

"Okay…jeez," Max rubbed his abdomen as he leaned closer to the table, his little followers leaning in closer to. "So we finished up early and unlike you chicks decided to do a little snooping of our own. Our second task is taking place in an abandoned warehouse about twenty blocks away, it's in the rundown area of the city so no one will hear you scream."

Meredith rolled her eyes and pushed on her chair, scraping the legs against the floor. "It's hardly brain surgery to figure out they'd use an abandoned warehouse. What you should have done was to use your peeping tom instincts to look through the windows." Standing up from her chair, she looked down at me. "Come on Rose, we don't wanna be late to show them how it's done."

I was liking Meredith more and more. Standing up from my chair, I followed her out of the food court only too aware that Max was watching my ass.

--

We made our way back to the minibus as per instructed and dropped off our belongings. The rest of the class were already waiting with their fighting mitts on and their miniature paint ball guns tucked in a duty belt. I opted to take Dimitri's hooded sweatshirt off and brace the cold weather, it was far too big and would constrict access to the belt. "Okay so do we know?" I turned and faced the rest of the class while wrapping the duty belt around my waist and fastening it together.

"They are lying in wait in an abandoned warehouse on fifth street." Meredith piped in the knowledge Max had given us.

"The warehouse isn't surrounded, the windows are at the top of the building so unless they've left the lights on for us which is doubtful, the amount of light inside of the warehouse is going to be lacking." Another novice had apparently scoped out the warehouse.

"Good," Picking up my paintball gun I slipped it into the belt. "How many of them are there?" I asked while putting on my fingerless fighting mitts.

"Alberta, Davies, Belikov, Matthews, Morgan and crap, what's the other newbie's name?"

"Daniels," I added. "The ones we're gonna have to look out for are Alberta, Davies, and Belikov. They've been training us longer than the others, so they'll know how we operate, what our weaknesses our and what are strengths are. The others will have read our profiles so they'll know the basics." I paused recalling my encounter with Davies had how he kept trying to deflect any blows away from his right leg. "Davies weakness his his right leg, so if you get into a one on one don't hesitate to take it out and then shoot. Remember we're here to win, so don't hesitate but don't stupid with your shots. Make them count." I was sounding more and more like Dimitri with every word, his influence over my behaviour was evident.

"See, Rose I told you, you'd be our girl." Max commented.

Maybe I was taking charge but I wanted to win more than anything, I wanted to show them all that we were capable to taking care of ourselves and more importantly I wanted to show Dimitri that I wasn't the same feeble girl he had to save four months ago from a former classmate who had gone all Strigoi on us.

"There's eighteen of us so we'll split into groups of six, each group will have an objective and two guardians each to take down." Meredith inputted, moving so that she was stood next to me. It was funny considering that the two taking charge where the only two girls in the class, maybe we were the superior sex.

The class automatically split down into three groups, Meredith and I were in one. "Dimitri said the main thing was to communicate with each other," I had seen personally what had happened during a real communication breakdown, wards had gotten broken, guardians had been killed and innocent Moroi had been slaughtered. "So we're gonna have safe words. If you take an opponent down, if an opponent takes you down we're gonna need to know how many people are still left in the game. So if you take a guardian down call out Missoula, if you see them take down a novice call out…Loser." A rueful grin played at my lips.

"One group will go in the back way and one in the front." Meredith continued, "We," She said referring to our group. "Will find another way in, it'll catch them by surprise if we're not all together."

"Is everyone armed?" I glanced around the class quickly, each of them tapped at their weapons. "If you take down an opponent what do you say?"

"MISSOULA!"

"And if you see someone get taken out, what do you say?"

"LOSER!"

Maybe this was only a practice run preparing us for future events, maybe we were still only novices but we were a unit. And we were ready.

--

The other two groups made their way to the front and the back of the warehouse, preparing themselves for entry into hostile grounds. We had set our watches in tune with one another so that we entered the warehouse at the same time, it was like being a part of a black ops team. My group and I rounded the side of the warehouse, trying to find this other so called way in. Sure it had been a good plan right up until the point where we had to find this apparently invisible way into the warehouse.

"Okay so maybe my plan was flawed," Meredith sighed in defeat.

"Or not." If there was one thing I had perfected during my years of adolescence it was sneaking in and out of two storey windows. I pointed to the drainpipe that led all the way up to the roof of the warehouse, bypassing one of the windows which luckily just happened to be slightly ajar. It was also a lucky thing the building was made brick, they wouldn't hear my steal capped boots climbing up the wall.

Being the leader meant that I had to the be the first one to test out our possible entrance. My hands gripped the drain pipe as I lifted myself up off the floor so that my boots knocked against the red coloured brick wall. Slowly I climbed the wall, shimming my hands up the drain pipe with each step. One thing was certain; it was a hell of a lot easier sliding down one of these things.

After successfully climbing up the two storey drain pipe I reached over and pulled on the window, opening it further hopefully allowing for a stealthy entrance. "Here goes nothing." Reaching over I gripped the opened window and let myself hang midair, the only thing stopping me from meeting a painful two storey drop; my dhamphir strength and a very, very reliable window. Pulling myself up, I peered inside of the darkened warehouse. The first floor was stacked with boxes hopefully implied that the guardians were lying in wait on the ground floor.

Climbing through the window proved to be a harder task than the drain pipe. I was now on the verge of entering the building with the prospect of being confronted by guardians. "Come on, Rose" I muttered silently to myself. I had never been caught during the process of actually sneaking in and out of mine or others rooms back at the academy, this was exactly the same, I told myself trying to boost my failing courage.

From the corner of my eye I saw a small movement in the shadows to my left.

Fuck.

Dropping through the window hurriedly I managed not to make a sound, but instead risk having the rest of my group caught along with me, I lifted my hand to the window and signalled for them not to follow. Quickly ducking behind a stack of boxes, I looked down at my watch. Another minute and the others would infiltrate the warehouse. That was all the time I needed not to be discovered.

Meredith's words suddenly rang in my ears, 'This is our time of recklessness.' The others weren't yet inside but I could still make the human sacrifice and distract the other guardians.

Crouching down I touched my miniature paintball gun and peered around the boxes. Who was up here with me? Matthews, Morgan and Daniels I could probably take by surprise. Alberta and Davies were another story, there was a reason he was a renowned badass guardian and she the captain of the Guardian Squad back at St Vladimir's.

And then it hit me.

That perfect aftershave


	10. Chapter 10

_Authors Note: Just a quick note to say thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter...just wow. Thanks for all the feedback hopefully you'll continue to still enjoy the story. Am contemplating moving in sync with the first chapter of Shadow Kiss...thoughts?_ _And as always please excuse bad gramma, spelling mistakes and so forth._

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The heavens opened and lady luck shined down on me, well at least that's who I was crediting for the miraculous timing of my classmates invasion. Just as Dimitri had ascended the staircase to the first floor where I was currently in hiding under the window and behind some conveniently placed large cardboard boxes, my classmates had gone for an all out attack by bursting through the front and back entrance. I didn't need to use my super spidey dhamphir senses to know that five guardians, now six with Dimitri making his way back down the staircase, were perfectly prepared for this particular attack, after all everything had been on their terms, the location, the timing etc.

"LOSER" Echoed through the warehouse, vibrating against the steal beams holding the structure together. Wow, we'd been at war for under thirty seconds and already one of the novices was down and out, that must have been a new record.

"LOSER" My teeth automatically ground together, annoyed that my team mates were dropping like flies, if it kept going at this rate we would be back on the minibus bus within the next half an hour. And that was NOT an option.

Stretching out of my crouched position, I peered past the large cardboard box that was keeping me well hidden and quickly scanned the first floor. There were five windows in total, two of which were accessible, the other three not. The only access to the ground floor was down the staircase which Dimitri had come and gone from. Luckily the first floor acted as a balcony, overlooking what I guessed was about a third of the ground floor. My fingers tapped silently against the miniature paintball gun which was holstered in my utility belt. I stared over at the balcony's edge as a mischievous smirk touched my lips; I had found myself in possibly the perfect position: Sniper.

Upon choosing the location, the guardians would have done a thorough sweep of the building, marking down the best entry points just as Meredith and I had done earlier in the Missoula Mall. Upon the completion of this data they would have posted a guardian near to or at the entry point while the others looked on. All six of them were currently engaging in battle on the ground floor and had therefore concluded that the second storey windows were a non threat. Butterflies began to stir in my stomach and the grin widened as I realised that I had not only managed the so called impossible but I had also done it without my cover being compromised. That was definitely a confident booster.

"MISSOULA" Through all of the commotion happening on the ground floor that cry of Missoula swept through it all. A guardian was down and out, I was betting on one of the newbie's as there was no way in hell the captain of the Guards, Alberta or my badass guardian Dimitri were out of the game this early…they were far too skilled. A part of me hoped that Davies hadn't lucked out either because he had an important date to keep with my practical steel capped toe boots, a little payback for his lessons in being tardy. Wait…a guardian was down and out and I was hiding up here, missing all of the action. What the hell was wrong with me?

Standing up quickly my eyes scanned the first floor again just to be on the safe side, if there was anything I had learnt from Dimitri's training sessions it was to be prepared and to be cautious, two notions which were usually way out of my league. I crossed the floor taking great effort to be quiet, a hard task in itself when wearing heels. One step too loudly and it was game over. Sure I was a trained novice with senses that were heightened by Dhamphir roots but the enemy, they were experts in combat, they had years of experience and they could as my dulling bruises would testify to, cause some serious damage.

As I reached the balcony's end, I crouched down face forward, stomach and breasts pressed against the very uncomfortable and dirty hard floor. Shuffling around the cold ground to reach the end of the balcony, I suddenly pictured myself in one of those army related adverts where you see the trainee decked out in camouflage making their way through booby trained mines, under a wire which if touched or crossed meant game over, no happily ever after but more importantly no fighting the bad guys. What a waste.

"LOSER"

"LOSER"

"LOSER"

Peering over the edge, I watched as Eddie, Max and Jackson made their way towards the back of the warehouse, the three of them sporting some red coloured paint on their backs. A fine example of why you needed someone to watch your back…wait, how many was that? How many of us were left?

My attention quickly retreated back to the war zone happening below me. A group of novices were hiding behind one of the standing metal beams, debating their next move while on the other side of the warehouse another group were taking on three guardians in hand to hand combat.

Taking the miniature paintball gun from its holster, I pulled it round and held it in my right hand with my left hand cupping over. A month ago Dimitri had taught me the 'correct' way to hold a gun, apparently my way of holding it one handed while starring down at an opponent barking out a witty one liner was not the correct way. The lesson itself had thrown me completely off balance; he was a big believer on making me wait before being allowed to actually hold anything which could do some internal damage. Case in point; it took three months of training sessions before he even let me look at a silver stake.

"It's important to choose your target wisely but be absolutely perfect with the aim." His little speech that day was currently on playback in my ears, as I imagined him standing next to me, telling me what to do. "Aim for the kneecaps, thighs or any part of the leg to slow them down." Guardians usually went for the diplomatic route, it was easier to get Strigoi to talk if they were still breathing…or whatever it was that they did. "Aim for the heart to keep them down."

I aligned my aim so that it would be dead center for the heart, ready to pierce through layers of skin, blood and through bone to reach the most vital organ in the body…that was if my gun had been sporting silver etched bullets instead of blue pallets of paint. My eyes marked off the three targets, the shots fired would have to be completely accurate in order to miss my team mates but also they would have to follow in quick succession in order to be effective.

"LOSER, LOSER, LOSER, LOSER" Quickly ricocheted through the warehouse and that was my cue. As the novices who had been taken out made their way towards the back of the warehouse, I pulled down on the trigger and fired the first pallet which successfully hit one of the newbie's in the upper back, mostly dead center but slightly to the left. Score!

I moved the gun and marked off the next target, pressing the trigger a little too quickly causing the aim to adjust, the blue pallet of paint hit Alberta in the middle of her back. She turned and immediately looked up in my direction, meeting my eyes before Meredith took advantage of her distraction and hit her with a double shot to the chest. She was out of the game, not that it mattered to me. My cover was blown and I was about to be busted.

--

Cue on Charlie's Angel roll to the side and I had a jump start on our game of cat and mouse. Crouching behind the same box which had hidden me before, I closed my eyes and allowed myself to be completely open to my surroundings which unfortunately due to my blood bond with Lissa meant a part of me was with her. Even though we were over three hours apart in distance, it amazed me that she was still there lingering in my mind. The bond was weaker than usual, understandable considering the distance but it was still there. The state of the bond could also have been due to her emotions; they were completely at ease, a perfect calm. She was tucked in bed back at the academy catching up on her beauty sleep – something I was thankful for. If she had been going one on one for some x-rated fun with her repulsive boyfriend it would have been next to impossible for me to leave her mind.

Today her mind was a comfort, a safe zone something it had never been before. I was reluctant to leave that peaceful place but I needed to concentrate on the here and now. My eye opened as hurried footsteps climbed the staircase but unlike last time, my senses weren't drowned out with perfect aftershave, they were ready and alert.

My diligence was apparently going to be rewarded this afternoon.

He had been heading my way when I stepped out from behind the boxes, he pulled up as the sight of my gun landed between his eyes. "Don't…" I warned him as he reached for his holster. It seemed careless to me that he didn't have his gun on the ready upon reaching the first floor, but then again maybe he hadn't been planning on using it. I knew he preferred hand to hand combat. "Drop it to the floor," My command rang through loud and clear as fighting continued below us, with shouts of LOSER becoming more frequent.

He did as instructed and dropped the miniature paintball fun to the floor. "Now kick it to the side," I nodded my head towards the balcony keeping my hands firmly on my own gun which was still aimed between his eyes. He kicked out his right foot and kicked the gun, sending it flying towards and over the balcony.

"Now what?" He asked, a playful tone sounding in his voice. "You've caught me red handed, the smart thing to do would be to shoot and have one less enemy on ground."

The smart, thing I pondered. "Well, I'm more of a rule breaker." Holstering my weapon back into the holster, I looked up as my opponent allowed a grin to spread across his face, a grin of victory. Presumptuous bastard!

"I've been waiting all week for this."

"For what?" His grin faltered and a confused expression crossed his face.

"Payback." Following my quick response was an even quicker lunge forward, aiming an already curled left fist at his face. Playing with guns had been a nice change but this right here; no fancy weapons, no magic, just pure brutality with hand to hand combat is what I had been born to do.

One thing about being a novice meant that I was quick. One thing about years of experience as a guardian meant that he was quicker.

Davies caught my fist with his two hands and spun me around as though I weighed nothing and began to chokehold me with my own arm. "This right here is your downfall, Hathaway. You don't stop and think you just react." Great, he was giving me a life lesson while he tightened his grip on my arm and pulled harder, causing my breathing to become shallow from the lack of oxygen.

My eyelids were steadily getting too heavy to keep open and my brain was readying itself for naptime. "No…" I told myself, my voice sounding like an eighty year old chain smoker. I was fighting what was apparently a losing battle with myself, I was stronger than this, stronger than a one sided fight. I could give as good as I got. Looking down at the floor my eyes fixated on my black boots – there was a reason I had worn this beauties instead of the usual white sneakers. My left arm thrusted back into his ribcage – twice- each time harder than the one before which caused him to loosen his grip on my arm. Pulling myself out of his embrace I tiptoed in my boots and smacked my head back, head butting him in the face, a move which would have never worked on six foot seven Dimitri Belikov.

Turning in my three inch heels, my hand reached out; palm flat facing forward and threw an upper cut at his face. "So you've read my file…" My hand met his face causing him to be knocked back a couple of steps. "But that's not who I am…" I had changed since leaving the academy, a change for the better at least that was the general consensus. "And FYI…" I waited until he stood up straight and found my eyes, "Sometimes I react…" I kicked out with my steel toe capped boots striking his thigh. "And sometimes I plan ahead." And he went down. Maybe I was being too brutal but I was tired of everyone underestimating me, tired to the point of being severely pissed off. It was no wonder I was having weekly sessions with the school's quack, a teenage hormonal girl was one thing, a teenage hormonal girl with the ability to cause serious physical damage hyped up on bad karma from her best friend…was something completely different.

I didn't hesitate in pulling the paintball gun out from the holster, aiming at his chest I shot three times which at such a close range probably stung a little. "You know I'd probably like you if you weren't such a Grade A asshole."

He looked at me with a face that could only be described as infuriated beyond belief. I walked over and bent down beside him, whispering into his ear. "Game over." The sudden appearance of those pesky black clouds which prompted the antisocial Rose Hathaway was undoubtedly fuelling this current black rage. "MISSOULA!" I shouted from the top of my lungs and watched as Davies stood and wobbled across the first floor heading towards the staircase without even having the good graces to give me a quick sarcastic one liner. As he disappeared down the staircase a smile touched my lips and I reholstered my gun.

"You should have saved one of those for me."

Opps.

The smile dropped as a muzzle settled around me, the fight from downstairs vanished from my senses, the only thing that existed right now was him and me. I shifted slightly, even though I had been bested the novice inside of me wondered how much distance I could put between me and pellet of paint.

"Where did you even come from?" Aside from being a kickass guardian, I questioned whether he had trained as a ninja, they always seemed to appear out of thin air.

He turned me into him and back me against the wall so that my back was pressed against the cool concrete and my front was guarded by the warmth of his lean, well muscled body.

"You let your guard down during your one on one with Davies," Dimitri reached down and took the paintball gun from my holster and threw it across the floor out of reach. His hand trailed down my side and rested on my hip. His shoulder length dark hair was pulled back behind him into a pony tail, his mesmerizing deep brown eyes looking down into the pits of my soul.

I swallowed hard. This kind of contact wasn't usually something he allowed, in fact he had never allowed it. I had always been the one to initiate things except that one time when we were under a spell – he had been the one to take charge then. We had had the occasional quick, sneaky kiss but that was behind closed doors and not in the middle or what was now nearing the end of a training exercise, I couldn't remember how many of my team mates had been taken out.

"Is this a part of the training exercise?" I asked feigning innocence as my body pressed deeper into his. My teeth bit down on my bottom lip as my heart beat quickened.

His body felt hard and perfect against mine, his breath coming hot and quick against my neck as he leaned in and planted a soft kiss just below my earlobe. If I had been Strigoi that soft, sensual kiss could have upkicked a non beating heart. Apparently watching me get the high ground on Davies was Dimitri's kind of foreplay which was funny…because apparently it was mine too.

He drew me into him and wrapped his arms around me, so that my face was pressed against his chest. I could hear his heart beating in his chest as loudly as I could hear my own which at this moment in time felt like it was bouncing up and down and trying to break free from its bone encased cage.

"Does this mean that you've decided to ditch those incredibly high morals and get down and dirty with a seventeen year old novice?" I regretted the words as they were out in the open, I was supposed to be sweet talking him into giving in not reminding him of why he should stay away from me for the next month. Bloody brilliant, Rose.

I felt his lips hover at my ear "I'm sorry, Roza…" He whispered as a pellet hit me in the stomach. Dimitri pulled back and looked down at me regretfully and then turned to look over at the staircase. Matthews reached the top of the staircase just as Dimitri stepped back from me.

I looked from Matthews back to Dimitri, crap. "LOSER!" My voice echoed through a silent warehouse.

Matthews bellowed with laughter, "Oh Hathaway…" He walked across the floor and stood next to Dimitri, who towered over him…then again who didn't he tower over? "You're not a loser…in fact, I guess you could say you're a winner."

I didn't get it.

"You're the last novice standing…" He said clearing things up.

My eyes turned back and found Dimitri's, maybe I had won…in more ways than one.

--

On the drive back from Missoula I had once again found myself being the center of attention but at least this time it was for the right reasons. The other novices were either complaining that I had had an unfair advantage having been the only one to enter the warehouse through the first storey window or they were applauding me for acting as a sniper and saving some of them from a quicker 'death.'

"If I had been in your place, I would have probably been the last one standing too." Max frowned over at me trying to rub off some blue coloured paint from the side of his face. Someone was a sore loser.

"I wouldn't be so sure," Meredith scoffed and threw him a dirty glare. "You couldn't even hold your own against Davies and Rose took him on in hand to hand!" The more time I spent with Meredith the more I liked her.

"Besides you wouldn't have been able to shimmy up the drainpipe…" Eddie chimed in, "Rose here has had years of experience going in and out of windows." He turned and winked at me knowingly. It was true, the better part of sophomore year at the academy was spent sneaking out of windows to attend secret parties and then sneaking back in.

"Well maybe one night she could sneak through mine." Max perked up at the thought of a little dawn rendezvous.

That certainly earned a hard laugh from me. And from Meredith.

"Rumour is," Eddie spoke when the bus quietened down from the laughter, "they're gonna give us our assignments for the trails when we get back to the academy."

"Rumour?" I asked, turning my head I glanced over to Dimitri and decided that it would be the perfect opportunity to sit in the empty seat beside him. I could ask him about the so called rumour…not that was the only reason I wanted to sit beside him. Standing up from my seat, Davies who was driving peered back in the rear view mirror and barked at me.

"Hathaway sit down!" His tone was harsh and if looks could kill, well then I would be six feet under.

"Keep your panties on," God I was pushing my luck, if any of the other novices spoke that way to the guardians they would have been disciplined. Maybe if I got pulled over on my attitude I could claim it was the blood bond acting as some sort of turrets or something. Making my way down the aisle of the bus, I threw myself down in the seat beside Dimitri.

"You really shouldn't antagonise him." Dimitri turned and raised his eyebrow in my direction.

"There are a lot of things I shouldn't do…but I do them none the less." A mischievous grin played at my lips as I worked hard at keeping my hands to myself.

He shook his head and rolled his eyes at me, deciding to ignore our moment earlier.

"So word on the minibus is that when we get back to the academy we're getting our assignments for trials" It was neutral ground, he couldn't not talk to me – it was shop talk.

"There will be a special assembly once we get back to the academy. The novices will be notified of who their charges will be for the trails."

"Well should I just skip out and hit the sack, I mean I already know Lissa is going to be my charge."

"The assembly is mandatory." He was still being professional – there was no hint of any emotion lurking behind his tone.

"Whatever comrade…like I told Davies, I'm not one for sticking to the rules." He was beginning to irritate me with his teacher Zen crap answers. Maybe this wasn't the right time to talk about what had happened earlier but he could have at least indicated that a talk about that was on the cards. But oh no, he had to stay in mentor role until our few and far between alone time. Well if I was gonna have to wait for that conversation I couldn't think of a better place to wait than right here. Instead of moving back to sit next to Meredith, I leaned against Dimitri's shoulder and closed my eyes.

--

Upon arriving back at the academy we were directed to the main conference hall which had been decked out with rows of chairs. The Moroi students were already sat in the hall waiting for us to arrive. My eyes scanned the hall and found Lissa sitting at the front with her leeching boyfriend sat on her right and Mia sat on her left. Well that was just wonderful…

"Novices would you take your seats quickly and quietly please." Jeez, Kirova uttering the P word? The world was officially spinning off of its axis and travelling into the unknown. I followed Meredith and sat three rows behind Lissa as Kirova started. "I can appreciate that you're tired, it's been a long day for you" She was speaking to those of us who had just been out on the field assignment "…but this assembly wont take too long. As you know trials begin in two weeks and unlike previous years, we've decided that it would be best if you had the chance to bond with your charges and therefore make the experience more real for you all."

I scoffed in my chair. Right, I could just picture my mother bonding with Lord Szelsky.

Sitting further back in my chair I tuned out the majority of speech about responsibility and so forth, I had become a pro over the years at tuning out of her lectures, God knows I had heard more than enough of them. I watched mindlessly as each novice made their way up to the front of the hall to be given their charges.

"Rose Hathaway …" I stood up and made my way to the front of the hall. "And…" Kirova looked down at the sheet of paper. "Christian Ozera."

What the f---


	11. Chapter 11

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_So I read Shadow Kiss yesterday and while I will not give anything away about the plot, I will tell you that it was a thoroughly enjoyable read. Though the content of the book may have inspired this slightly depressing chapter. If you've read, I'd love to know your thoughts on the book! And as always I hope you enjoy and please continue to review. Reviews are the most inspirational thing we fanfiction writers can achieve. So I thank you :) _

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It was amazing that my body didn't transform into a ripped, green Hulk machine right there and then, it was even more amazing that my mouth kept shut as my feet dragged its unwillingly body to the front of the senior class to be assigned my Moroi, Christian Ozera. Maybe Lissa was right, maybe I was no longer that girl who punched first and asked questions later. I was evolving…becoming an adult.

"This is a joke, right?" Christian stood from his chair and made no attempt to move past Lissa to join me at the front of the assembly. Apparently my evolution wasn't catching. "You want her to protect me?" He scoffed as a bitter laugh escaped his lips.

"Mr Ozera, this assignment is not only beneficial for novices but also for you too. It is a great opportunity for Moroi students to see first hand what life outside the walls of St Vladimir's will be like." Kirova's soft eyes hardened when he didn't move to join me. "And the assignment is non negotiable."

We'll see.

Christian sat back down in the chair beside Lissa and turned his icy glare in my direction. "Well if I want someone to have my back, I'd rather it be someone who's not going to stick a knife in it."

"Whatever, Ozera," I rolled my eyes over his dramatics, "The only reason you're on my radar is because your pawing yourself all over my best friend. If it wasn't for that the self loathing pathetic Moroi that you are wouldn't even make a blip on my radar." Through the blood bond I shared with Lissa, I could feel her cringe internally over the insults her boyfriend and I were throwing at one another. "Besides I don't do cheap shots, if I'm stabbing you anywhere, it'll be through the heart while I'm looking you in the eyes."

"Really?" Suddenly his ice cool glare was replaced by twinkling, excited blue eyes "And how exactly are you going to do that when your not-so spontaneously combusting?"

I couldn't understand where the equal hostility between the two of us was coming from. Sure our relationship in the past had always been on a level of superficial hatred but this was something different, something darker.

"What's the matter, Christian, lacking in a certain area?" I looked quickly down and then back up, with a grin touching the side of my lips. I of course knew differently, thanks to the blood bond I shared with Lissa. I was usually pretty good at maintaining a guard keeping me out of her head, though of course when she let her emotions get the better of her which usually happened when she and the spawn of Satan were getting horizontal with one another, well then it was a little more difficult. "That why you can't fight back like a real man?" The whole senior class snickered in response.

"I think that's quite enough!" Kirova interrupted before I could unleash another round of cruel verbal banter on him. "Miss Hathaway and Mr Ozera, the two of you are immediately excused from this assembly." She turned her head in my direction, a crease appearing in the middle of her forehead as she spoke, "Guardian Davies, escort the two of them to my office."

I was almost knocked off my feet by the feelings radiating from Lissa; she was upset that I hadn't been named her guardian, she was confused by Christian's outburst and she was angry at me for biting back and for using my link with her as a taunt. My apologetic eyes found Lissa's before shamefully being escorted out of the main conference hall. Christian walked ahead, side by side with Dimitri which was brave of him considering his earlier accusation.

The walk to Kirova's office was short but definitely not sweet, the silence in the school hallways was almost eerie. Dimitri opened the door for the two of us.

"Take your seats." His tone was clipped, unusual for Dimitri to show any kind of emotion during work hours. Christian walked in first and I followed, my eyes finding Dimitri's first and I wish they hadn't. Not only had his tone been clipped but his eyes were filled with disappointment. Well if the walk of shame didn't make me feel guilty enough then my almost lover's disapproving eyes certainly nailed the coffin shut.

"Well this is just great…" Sarcasm was dripping from my voice as I sat down in the seat next to Christian.

Christian didn't react in any way – there no huffing not even a roll of the eyes at my comment. He just sat there, staring at Kirova's desk.

"Seriously what is your problem, Christian?" I turned in my chair and stared at him, daring him to turn and confront me. "A few weeks ago we were on …" I tried to find the words to describe what we had been through. "Neutral ground…after everything we went through I thought we had made some sort of progress. I mean we were never going to be braiding each other's hair but…"

He finally turned and looked at me, he was clearly debating over what to say but instead Kirova stormed into her office.

"Well, I hope the two of you have some sort of explanation for that ridiculous not to mention childish outburst." She walked around her desk and sat down in the chair behind it, resting her elbows on the wooden structure, staring at the two of us. "I had expected this from you Miss Hathaway, but Mr Ozera…"

"Typical," I muttered under my breath interrupting the beginnings of what was undoubtedly going to be one of her more lengthy bitch fests.

"Miss Hathaway…"

"Well you didn't really expect me to say nothing, did you?" I sat further back in my chair and crossed my arms over my chest. "After everything I've been through, Victor," I cringed openly at speaking his name, "…Everything at Spokane." I didn't dare to speak his name, fearing that once I did the flood gates would open and everything would spill out. "The attack here…the so called blood bond fuelled rages…" Oops, Christian like everyone else had thought my erratic mood swings were a result of PMS. "After all of that, it didn't even occur to you cut me some slack and give me Lissa as a charge or even if that was a no go… you could have at least given me a heads up before the assembly…if you're so worried about my condition, surely it would have been a wise move on your part."

I could feel Dimitri's eyes on my back and Christian's stare on my face. "Rose," It was the first time she had addressed me informally. "The pairings…" She struggled to find the words, which was strange in itself. "You and Miss Dragomir were specifically not paired together because of your bond." She continued, "According to your tutors and as proven by previous dealings, the two of you rely excessively on the bond to see you through your mishaps. And while it is an invaluable source it is also a weakness. Overtime your heightened senses and your training will suffer and ultimately you will be putting her life in danger because of it."

"Yeah…" I pouted in my chair, hating that the reasons behind not putting Lissa and I together sounded reasonable. "Well you still could have told me. "And you…" Turning in my chair, I looked over at Christian deciding to redirect my frustration in his direction. This time where he turned to look at me, I was met with an understanding face. "I honestly don't know why you're complaining, you've got the best novice here protecting your ass."

Kirova turned and ripped Christian a new one and by his facial expression I could tell that like me, he had been on the wrong side of her before. He almost looked bored sitting there, listening to her ramble on. Dimitri had excused himself halfway through the scolding; apparently he had to go address the novices about the protocol for the assignment. I figured he'd just fill me in later either before or after he gave me his own lecture. She finally finished her rant by giving the two of us five nights of detention which in all was pretty tame for her.

I left her office determined to go make amends with Lissa but apparently Christian had other ideas.

"We need to talk…" He watched my sceptic face and added, "Now."

"No," I stopped him right there. "We can talk later, right now; I'm going to bed to catch up on some beauty sleep before I have to stalk your psycho ass for the next six weeks."

He looked at me with the kind eyes he usually reserved for Lissa. "I'm not going to apologise for my behaviour. But I at least owe you an explanation."

"Well you've already heard mine," I said referring to ratting myself out earlier in Kirova's office. At least I had a good excuse for being a mega bitch, what was his? "And by the way, that newly acquired piece of info is strictly between you, me and my therapist, okay?"

He nodded understanding. It was the first time in a long while that the two of us had actually agreed on something. But then again we both had Lissa's best interests at heart.

"At least we agree on something." My eyes were beginning to droop from the lack of sleep. The next six weeks were going to be brutal on my sleeping patterns, having to watch over him twenty four seven.

"I think you'll find we agree on a lot of things, Rose." He sighed and sad bubble formed around him. "About earlier…what you said earlier," He said correcting himself. "You said that you're mood swings…"

"You mean the alter-ego, dark, PMS bound Rose Hathaway…yeah I haven't come up with a nickname for her yet," I said, trying to make light of the situation.

He completely ignored that and continued, all serious. "You said it was connected to the bond."

"That's the popular and professional's opinion so far."

"Lissa's been doing magic again."

No shit Sherlock. "Yeah, I know. She, Ms Carmack and wannabe stalker boy are practising spirit, tell me something I don't know."

"She's not taking all of her meds." Okay, that was definitely something I didn't know.

--

The plan had for me to catch up on some serious beauty sleep but instead I found myself stomping the hallway outside of Stan's class, waiting for Lissa to emerge. Christian had opted to go for an early lunch, so much for being like me. For the past couple of weeks he had been standing idly by and watching as she decreased her intake of medication, the medication which happened to keep her sane.

The doors opened and the class began to pour out into the hallway. Jesse Zeklos noticed me and grinned in my direction, "Hey Rose…" He walked across the hallway to stand closer to me. "Where's Strigoi boy? You off him already?"

"Yeah and if you keep bugging me, you'll join him." If my tone hadn't warned him off, the murderous look on my face certainly had him walking speedily away.

Lissa exited the classroom and paused in the hallway seeing me. The anger she felt earlier was dimming but it was still there, simmering beneath the surface. Unluckily for her, my anger was boiling over.

"Where's Christian?" She asked looking around.

"Probably cowering in a corner somewhere."

She sighed and mistook my comment for malice. "You really shouldn't be so quick on his back, Rose."  
"You're right, I must be misdirecting my anger." I folded my arms across my chest and stared her down, waiting for her to crack.

"What?"

"You know it's my fault really, I should have seen it." But I was too busy trying to stop the incontrollable rages a result of the stupid blood bond.

"I'm not following," She admitted honestly.

"How's your sessions with Carmack going?"

It was like a light went on, suddenly it clicked into place for her. But instead of sensing guilt over being caught red handed, I felt betrayal leaking through the bond. "I cant believe he told you."  
"I can't believe you didn't." I was finding it increasingly hard to keep my anger in check, I could feel the darkness flowing through my veins, trying to find an escape.

"I was going to…" She back stepped instantly, "When it was right."

I shook my head in disbelief. We both knew that she was lying. She had no intention of telling me at least not on a subconscious level. "Right well when things start going down hill again which they will because the always do…" I knew I was being hypocritical, chastising her for not telling me something when I was holding out on her too. "Don't come running to me and expect me to fix everything, because I'm done being your fall girl, Lissa. If you can't see what this is doing to you and what it's doing to me," I added selfishly. "Then maybe you need to fall flat on your face and learn this lesson for yourself."

I turned in my steel capped toe boots and stomped away from her. The darkness inside of me should have dimmed from my verbal vent but instead I found myself desperately in need of another outlet. The anger was trickling over the edge and contaminating my pores, infecting every part of me.

"Rose…" Dimitri was standing outside of the gymnasium, speaking to Alberta.

"What?" My tone, like his this morning was clipped. My icy glare was hardly appropriate considering he was my tutor.

Alberta raised her brow at my curt tone and turned to look at Dimitri.

"Inside…" He nodded to the gymnasium and then spoke to Alberta. As I passed the two of them, I swore I heard him tell her that the gymnasium for the next hour was off limits to both guardians and novices.

Fan-bloody-tastic. Just what my day needed, another lecture.

I stepped into the gymnasium and kicked off the steel capped toe boots I had been wearing since five thirty this morning. Sitting down on the practice mat, I pulled at my sweaty socks and threw them to the side of the room, allowing my feet to breathe for the first time today.

The door closed and I turned to see Dimitri lock it from the inside. "Well at least we finally get some privacy," I stood up from the mat and glared up at his 6'6 stature. "But let me guess instead of using this as an opportunity to I don't know talk about this," I pointed between the two of us, "us…you're gonna go get your rule book out and lay down the law." I wanted to stop, but I physically couldn't. "Why don't we just skip the long lecture and both agree that what happened back at the warehouse was a mistake."

Something played across his face but it was too quick for me to register the expression, his mentor mask was securely on. He walked over to the edge of the mat and stared at me expectantly.

"What?" I asked, brow raised. "If you want me to do something then you're gonna have to be civil and ask, comrade. I'm not a mind reader."

"This isn't a lecture, Rose. It's practice." He motioned to the other side of the mat and waited for me to take my position.

Of course I knew why he was doing this. It was the same reason why I was going to fight. He hated to see the darkness in my voice, in my eyes, in my threats and because he cared about me, he was giving me an outlet.

I moved and stood at the opposite end of the mat and nodded to show that I was ready to fight. And instead of waiting for him to begin the so called training session, I ran across the mat and led with a flying hook to a roundhouse kick. And even though I had gone off course and began without any warning, he was waiting for me. He managed to block the hook successfully but my leg caught his chest and knocked him off balance slightly. He recovered instantly.

"I'm here Rose" He said as I made a beeline for his face with another right hook, he blocked it affectively by grabbing my arm and like Davies had done earlier in the day, used it against me in a chock hold. "If you want to talk," His mouth was close to my ear, his hot breath tickling the little hairs on the edge of my ear.

"I don't," I threw my head back and head butted him, which wouldn't have been possible if he hadn't been whispering sweet nothings in my ear. This was my release, the only way I knew how to control the darkness inside of me. I turned in my heels and kicked out with a front snap kick, the ball of my foot slamming against his rock hard abs. The powerful kick stunned him and for the first time in one of our encounters, he was on his knees.

It should have been the point for me to take a step back and let my laboured breathing return to normal. But instead I found myself again going in for the attack only Dimitri was on his feet before I could blink and I was pinned against the far wall, completely dazed as to how that had happened. If I wasn't so pissed off at the world, I would have been drooling in awe at his skilled technique.

"Don't you find it kind of disturbing that our form of foreplay is violent?" I asked through gritted teeth as his fingers pressed into my wrists, keeping a hold of me. "I bet my shrink would love to analyse that!" I tried to break free from his grasp but he was stronger than I was and truthfully, the majority of me was quite content at being held by him.

"We're gonna have to find another way to channel this," His voice was soft and his dark eyes were inviting.

"I'm all for it, if it's productive." I couldn't help but grin as my mind wandered. Being held down by him wasn't entirely uncomfortable; in truth it was slightly arousing. There weren't many men who could take me in a fight and maybe that was part of the appeal with Dimitri. I was a hard nosed bitch at times but at the core I was like every other girl out there, wanting to be loved, wanting to be looked after. And Dimitri, he could do it both on a physical and mental level.

Instead of pulling back like usual, he continued to stare directly into my eyes. I could feel the darkness disappearing inside of me and instead it was channelling it something different. "I'm worried about you, Roza," His Russian accent was suddenly pronounced.

I ignored his sentiment, "I feel safe with you," I admitted honestly. I imagined that even if we hadn't spared with one another, after twenty minutes alone with Dimitri, my anger would have calmed naturally. All thoughts of my argument with Lissa were now pushed to the back of my mind and instead all of my thoughts were focused on him. He was like my own personal sun, keeping the shadows at bay. I swallowed the trapped air in my throat and confessed to the feelings coursing through my veins. "I love you."

It had been the first time I had said those words to anyone and actually meant them in the right context. In the past I had told Lissa that I loved her and I did, she was my best friend, my sister. But the love I felt for Dimitri was overpowering and consuming.

He kept a hold of me and stood there, wordlessly. His eyes continued to bore into mine and he still stood there, without saying a word. I felt my cheeks flush with horror as the embarrassment sank in.

"I ne—ed to go," I stuttered.

Dimitri made no attempt to let go of me, so instead I used my body strength and pushed him back and broke free from his grip. I shook my head to stop tears from forming, it was embarrassing enough to say those words but it was even more humiliating not to have them said back to you.

I left my socks and boots and bolted for the door, quickly unlocking it and making my hasty exit.

--

I sprinted down the school hallways barefoot and found myself grateful that the majority of the academy was at lunch. I didn't particularly feel in the mood to explain why I was running barefoot around the place. What would I even say? I just tried to kick my mentor's ass and then confessed my undying love for him.

I sensed him before I opened the door to my bedroom. This was just what I needed. Sighing, I opened the door to my room and found Adrian Ivashkov sitting on my bed holding the brown teddy bare sporting a Yankee's jumper that I won years ago in one hand and a bottle of scotch in the other.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, closing the door behind me. I was too tired to kick him out.

"I heard about your assignment…so I brought a consolation prize" He waved the whiskey in the air, by the looks and the smell of him, he was already on his way to becoming drunk.

"I don't drink that crap," I dismissed him instantly and pulled my hair out of its pony tail.

A smile played at his lips as his eyes followed the movements of my hair. "Okay, no whiskey…" He dropped the bottle to the bed and reached behind him, pulling out a bottle of vodka. "I come prepared…How about it, little dhamphir?"

"I do however drink that."

I moved across the room and took the bottle from his hand. Sure, it wasn't a productive way to get rid of the shadows surrounding me but it seemed to work for Adrian. Every time I saw him he was either medicated or half cut.

My fingers ran around the rim of the bottle cap. I needed to drown my sorrows but more than that, I needed to escape from Lissa, from Dimitri, from everything.


	12. Chapter 12

_A:N:: I would like to apologise for the lack of updates, I have been having trouble feeling inspiration for this story - or inspiration period, I guess. However hopefully that has changed and hopefully you enjoy this next installment of "Vampire Academy: Bite Me" I would also like to say a BIG thank you to everyone who has reviewed, your words of encouragement are the best tools for inspiration and without them I probably wouldnt have found my feet, so thank you..._

_As always please excuse spelling, story and grammatical errors!_

* * *

The more I drank the hazier the day's events became; they no longer stood alone as a single memory but blurred together. I could see why people became addicts besides the cool adrenaline rush, it was quite possibly the easiest way to lose yourself and if I needed anything at this moment in time, it was to be completely lost; to be one of the many.

And if I was going to get completely wasted, who'd better to get wasted with than a professional.

"Where are we going?" I asked, clutching onto the half empty Russian vodka bottle as though I were a five year old holding onto a favourite teddy. Adrian had taken a hold of one my wrists and was leading me down the school hallway, past classrooms filled with both Moroi and Dhamphir students. Another perk of being slightly tipsy, was not caring that I was technically supposed to be in class. "Wait…wait," I shrieked and pulled myself from Adrian's grip. I stumbled forward and pressed my head against the classroom door, looking through the little glass window. Lissa was in the classroom along with Christian and a few other Moroi and they were practising their magic. "UGH," I frowned and watched as Natasha Ozera hovered around Lissa, watching her attempts. "Why does she keep trying to take what's mine?" I complained in a whiny voice, now both sounding and acting like an adolescent child. Lissa turned her head and locked eyes with me.

I was about to wave when suddenly a tall, deliciously looking Dimitri stepped up beside Natasha. She turned into him unaware of his presence and with his quick reflexes he rested his hands on her shoulders to steady her. Unaware of his presence? Yeah right, I scoffed to myself, she probably had orchestrated that little fumble so he could touch her. "Bitch!" I exclaimed just as Adrian took a hold of my wrist again, pulling me from the door. I stumbled from the lack of balance. into the glass just as Adrian took a hold of my wrist and pulled me away from the door.

"Lissa?" Adrian turned and looked at me questioningly.

"Nooo!" I cried, and looked back towards the classroom. "Natasha…Natasha Ozera," I sighed and continued to walk along side him, though dragging my feet slightly out of protest. I pouted "Why does she have to be so fricken nice? I wanna hate her, I really do…but I don't," I babbled on, still clutching onto the bottle of vodka. "Wait, where are we going?" I asked again, both confused by the direction he was taking us in and trying to distract myself from imagining the two of them together, her accidentally brushing his shoulder, touching his hand, smiling at him…ugh, bitch.

"You said you wanted to do something...." He stopped us a few feet away from the gymnasium. He turned and looked at me, a small smirk touching his lips as he leaned in towards me, his emerald coloured eyes watching me closely. He was standing a little too close and if I had been sober I would have pushed him away but as I was hovering the line of tipsiness, I found myself strangely enjoying his company. "So we're doing something."

He turned around and continued towards the gymnasium. "You're not going to take advantage of me, are you?"

Again he stopped but this time he backed me up against the wall, much like Dimitri had done during our sparing session back at the warehouse. Only this time butterflies weren't floating around crazily in my stomach, they were barely fluttering. "I don't think you would ever let me take advantage of you, Rose." He leaned in closer and pressed his lips to indent of my neck and took in a deep breath. He was getting brave. "Sober or drunk."

My pulse quickened by the pure thought of his mouth or more precisely his teeth being that close to my neck. "I wouldn't…" It wasn't meant to be a question and yet it sounded like one

Adrian dropped a kiss on my neck before pulling back to look into my eyes, "I don't know why you waste your time with Belikov…" His voice was strained and frustrated and if I didn't know any better I would have thought he sounded a little jealous.

The mention of Dimitri's named pulled me out from under the heavy haze of alcohol…for a moment. My hands reached up and pressed against Adrian's chest. He took it as a sign – the wrong sign. I pushed on his chest just after his body pressed deeper into mine, making me feel a somewhat strong, toned torso. "…I'll never be that drunk!" I scolded and then grinned wickedly up at him.

"Alright," Adrian rebounded quickly from my rebuff. He turned and made his way towards the gymnasium. I was the one to stop him this time; my hand reached out and grabbed a hold of his arm stopping him in his tracks.

"I'm not going in there," I frowned at the closed door. The truth was that I couldn't go in there. I released my grip on his arm and turned around. Adrian was supposed to be my escape route, a way to lose myself for a couple of hours. And instead he was taking me back to the scene of the crime.

"Why?" He asked with his brow raised, my snappy tone caught his interest. "I thought you'd relish the chance at a little one on one…"

It was my turn to raise my brow. "Didn't I just say…"  
He leaned in closer and whispered against my ear and interrupted me, "I meant your kind of one on one...we can do mine later." And before I could respond, he turned on his heels and disappeared through the gymnasium door.

It was against school policy for novices to practice physical combat with Moroi students, apparently we, the novices had the upper hand – which was complete and utter crap, I'd been in a few fights with Moroi and if anything their magic wielding abilities meant that they always had the advantage. My super kick ass right hook always meant that I won.

And against better judgement and all rationality, I followed him into the gymnasium.

Inside everything was just as it had been a couple of hours ago when Dimitri and I had been training, if that's what you call a quick session of one on one followed by a declaration of love and devotion. A one sided declaration, I might add. Adrian was standing to the side of the gym taking off his shoes, followed by his jacket. He looked up and caught me watching him, another grin spreading across his face. "Don't worry, you'll get to see the rest later."

I pulled my free hand up to my mouth and motioned being sick by sticking two fingers toward my mouth. I moved across the gymnasium to the desk in the corner and kicked off my white sneakers and noticed my 'forgotten' steel capped toe boots sitting under the desk, yet another reminder of the seven minutes from hell.

"So what now?" I turned on the balls of my feet and faced an awaiting Adrian.

"Now we fight," His face was earnest.

"Right," I spoke, the scepticism evident in my voice. "You do realise that it wouldn't be much of a fight, right?" My brow formed a perfect arch, "You do realise that it wouldn't really be a fight?" I said correcting myself, "One punch and its goodnight sunshine."

"Now I'd really have to be screwed up in the head to want that… and even though I want as much bodily contact with you as possible…" His eyes gave my body a quick run over, "That's just not my idea of foreplay."

"I'm confused."

He took a step forward on the mat and approached me. "I want to see what makes you tick," Adrian moved in closer and took the bottle of Russian vodka from my hand, "I want to see what you love so much about fighting," He continued while uncapping the vodka bottle and taking a quick sip from it. "I want to be there when you're on your high but more importantly," He handed the open vodka bottle back to me, "I want to understand you." He didn't sound drunk, high or even joking – he sounded serious, which worried my vodka tainted blood.

I laughed and raised the bottle to my lips, swallowed a mouthful of vodka and burned my throat in the process. It was either that or respond to the comment.

"How about I show you some defensive techniques instead," I took the bottle cap from his hand and screwed the lid back on securely "that way if you get in a fight, you'll know how to defend yourself…the Rose Hathaway way" I walked to the back of the room and placed the bottle of vodka down on the desk.

"Hmm, I doubt I'll wanna man handle a guy's balls and twist."

I grinned impressed that a four year old story was still making the gossip rounds, but then again I wasn't really surprised – there were a lot of stories floating around about me, most of them true, some exaggerated and some completely false.

"Okay, put your hand on my arm as though you're going to restrain me."

"You don't wanna take off some more clothes first?" He asked, his eyes appraising me again.

I looked down at clothes I had been wearing for nearly twenty four hours, the black skinny jeans were a little dirty from the warehouse but the black tank top was surprisingly in good shape considering I had gone one on one with two guardians. "I'll make you a deal, if you can pin me…I'll take off my top." I said, knowing full well there was no chance he would be able to pin me.

He ran his tongue over his lips and grinned, "It's like strip fighting, my favourite kind!"

"But you have to pin me," I reminded him, "And I'm even going to show you how." I took a step closer to him and told him to put his hand on my left arm again.

He did so.

I placed my right hand on top of his at the same time slightly turning my left arm, so that I could grip his arm securely. With a quick flick of the wrist, his arm was bent and he was on his knees. As he went to stand up, I extended my left arm and pushed harder causing him to flip onto his back.

Even slightly drunk, I still kicked ass.

I stepped over him, putting one leg either side of his body before kneeling over him, my long dark raven hair flowing freely at the side of my face. "And it's as easy as that."

"You know," As he spoke his emerald eyes began to shine somehow. "I could always just compel you."

"But where's the fun in that?" I quickly responded.

"It'd still be fun…just not as much and a little less painful." His eyes continued to shine as I leaned down closer to his face, my nose almost touching his. His hands moved from their flat position on the mat and gripped my waist, his touch warm and sending a slight shiver through my body.

"And still it wouldn't happen." I teased.

And that was the problem, the slight shiver that he had sent through my body didn't even compare to the feelings Dimitri stirred inside of me. Thinking of Dimitri should have pulled me out from under the cloud of haziness like it had done earlier, only this time I was thinking of his reaction or non reaction as it was to the three words I had mumbled to him only a couple of hours earlier.

"Or maybe it would," I sighed.

I was bordering the line of sober and drunk, just as I was wondering the line of confused and conflicted. Half of me wanted to go back three or four weeks when everything had been normal or more importantly I had been normal; when there had been no erratic feelings of jealously, lust, hatred or anger, back when Dimitri and I had been equals; wanting one another but holding back. And yet half of me wanted to rebel everything I had been raised to think and do. I had been born and bred specifically to be a guardian, to protect and defend Moroi life and yet I wanted to be free. I wanted to be able to do what I wanted and not worry about the earth shattering consequences. I wanted to be a regular teenager who didn't have to worry about saving someone's life from evil Strigoi, a regular teenager who didn't have a confusing relationship with her mentor.

It was time to be irresponsible. It was time to see a little of the pre-runaway Rose Hathaway.

My face hovered closer to his so much so that my nose was brushing against his, my lips so close to his. And before I could make take that irresponsible step, the door swung open and we were both hauled off to Kirova's office by Davies.

--

I made myself at home once again in the chair opposite her desk – it was becoming so familiar to me that it felt fairly comfortable. Adrian on the other hand was leaning against the wall at the side of the room, legs folded, arms crossed. One of the perks of not being a student was being able to defy some of the rules.

"I don't see what the big problem is," I shrugged my shoulders defiantly and raised my brow at the headmistress.

"The problem, Miss Hathaway" She didn't stop when the door opened and closed behind me and there was no need for me to turn in my chair to see who it was, even without that bloody delicious aftershave, I knew it would be him. "That you were drinking on campus."

"I compelled her," Adrian interceded on my behalf. "The only reason Rose was drinking tonight was because she was under compulsion." He paused before continuing. "She's been under a lot of stress the last couple of months and I thought she might benefit from using the same method of banishing her demons as I do," Though he usually went for the three in one combination, smoking, drinking and medication. "Not to mention, she looked like she needed to have some fun."

The lying would have been a sweet gesture if there hadn't been an underlying smile in his voice aimed at a particular someone.

Kirova raised her brow at me, awaiting my response. It would have been a hell of a lot easier if I had just agreed with his version of events.

"He's lying." I confessed twiddling my thumbs together. "Sure he may have brought the alcohol to my room but I was perfectly sane and sober not to mention under no compulsion when I started to drink." Damn, Dimitri had turned me into a goody two shoes.

"And the situation I walked in on in the gymnasium?" Davies asked.

I turned and dared a glance at the room behind me. Davies surprisingly looked amused while Dimitri unsurprisingly looked pissed which was breaking one of his many rules; he was supposed to be Switzerland when it came to things like this.

"I was showing him some defensive moves," I blushed and turned my attention back to Kirova, cowardly avoiding his disapproving glare. My argument was just, at least I thought so. Moroi weren't taught how to defend themselves in a situation involving physical combat.

"There's nothing wrong with a little tutoring is there?" Adrian asked, "I mean after all this is a school and who better to tutor me in physical combat than a guardian in training?"

Kirova wanted to argue, I could see it in her eyes. Her emotions were written all over her face, she didn't like Adrian, my guess was that she thought he was an arrogant, smart mouthed Royal and yet because of who he was and his family connections she couldn't very well kick him out or even punish him.

She could do so with me though.

"Over the next couple of days before your field assignment begins you will take on a more responsible role within the school. You will be rotated into the guardian watch, you will be required to attend sessions on the elementary campus, where you will participate in guiding and mentoring younger novices…and this may continue into your training depending on the reports I receive." She shook her head and sighed, "After all you've been through I thought you understood the responsibility you have to your peers."

That was the problem. I did understand, better than anyone in my class. I had been on the outside and lived in the real world, I had fought off Strigoi and lived to tell the tale. I had experienced all of it well before I should have.

And yet I sat there biting my tongue, stopping myself from saying something I would regret.

"Guardian Belikov will oversee your punishment and you will report to him at approximately four am."

It was a natural choice for her to choose Dimitri since he had been my instructor since I had returned from my sabbatical and yet I hoped that she would have chosen Davies but hey, that was just my luck.

"Rose you're excused, Mr Ivashkov I would like to have a private word with you."

I stood up from the chair and turned in my white sneakers. I smiled up at Adrian before making my way to the front door, my eyes carefully avoiding the scrutiny eyes of Dimitri.

As I stepped outside, I heard him follow me.

"Rose…"

I turned and glared up at his ridiculous height. Davies stepped out of the room, behind Dimitri.

"You got off pretty light there, kiddo." Davies commented, stepping around Dimitri's frame.

"Kiddo?" I asked, condescending prick. He was what eight, nine years older than me?

He ignored my tone and continued. "You're a bright girl, don't be mixing business with pleasure." He tapped Dimitri's shoulder as a way to say his goodbye before sauntering off down the hallway.

"Rose…" Dimitri's voice was like velvet, soft and smooth. He wasn't about to give me a lecture, but I was pretty sure that whatever he was going to say I didn't want to hear it.

"Don't mix business with pleasure," I said resonating Davies words back to Dimitri. "I'll see you at four, Guardian Belikov."

---

It was a good thing Kirova hadn't ordered me to go to class before my punishment began; it had been a good twenty four hours since I had slept. And while I was usually fairly able to function on lack of sleep, the combination of the field assignment, the fight with Dimitri and the alcohol was taking its toll. A power nap, a long hot shower and a good brushing of my teeth had made the world of difference. Not only did I feel refreshed and ready to be bored out of my mind skulking the grounds of the school for the better part of six hours (it was a good thing, guardians took the watch in shifts, twelve hours of patrolling would most likely compel me to begin drinking again) but I had also reasoned with myself over the days events.

I had almost kissed Adrian not only because of the good ol' fashioned Russian vodka but also because I had wanted to. I hadn't wanted to kiss him because I liked him in that way that had me wanting to play tonsil hockey with him for hours on end; I had wanted to kiss him to forget about my feelings for Dimitri. It was pathetic and childish but it had almost worked.

My exchange of words with Dimitri had been brought on by over exhaustion and if he didn't buy that crappy excuse then he would fall for the whole it's my 'weird, super intense, magnified emotions, a result of the blood bone.' It didn't exactly matter that I did feel those things, what did matter was that things went back to how they were before. Unspoken but still there, no extra weirdness.

As I made my way out of the novice's dorm, I was greeted by not only a frosty gust of wind that made me glad I had opted for a warm jacket, hat, scarf and gloves but also a grinning Adrian.

"I'm not drunk…" I said as he approached me, "So I'm not going to kiss you." It was harsh, brazen, upfront – all of the things he had come to expect from me.

"Are you a masochist?" He stopped in front of me wearing a confused expression. "I try and take the heat from you, but oh no, I forgot the little dhamphir likes it rough."

"Yeah I do, "I grinned, "And if you don't get out of my way, you'll see exactly how rough I like it." Threatening physical violence always worked.

But before I could do or say anything else he took a hold of my face and kissed me. His lips were soft and he kissed me like the expert kisser he was and yet I didn't feel that spark I had felt when Dimitri touched me, kissed me…or even looked at me. And yet I kissed back.

Someone clearing their throat was the thing that pulled me from his lips.

"I'll see you later," Adrian whispered into my ear before walking off towards the Moroi dorms, completely ignoring our intruder.

I folded my arms across my chest and braced myself for his disapproving gaze. Only when I turned to face him I didn't find myself confronted with critical eyes, instead they were slightly squinted. As a rule, guardians always seemed stoic, like statues. They wore masks most of the time to hide their feelings.

His were plan and simple and easy to read.

He was mad.


	13. Chapter 13

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_Apologises for this chapter. Everything is slightly off and it's dark for us Dimitri/Rose fans. But then again "the night is always darkest before the dawn" There is hope and it will be in the form of the next chapter which will be BIGGER and hopefully better. Please do review, reviews are inspiration...and they make me smile. :) _

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Adrian's heated kiss lingered in the air but it was Dimitri's dark gaze that caused the air to crackle between us. Usually the six foot seven guardian was so adept at keeping his true feelings hidden, well keeping them hidden from everyone else I was the one exception who could see past the mask he wore. But today his emotions were written clearly across his face, all I knew it was a good thing that we were alone outside.

"Spare me the lecture, I think I've got them all pretty much memorized by now!" Without meaning to my voice raised and my tone turned biting. I closed the distance between us but instead of stepping into his space as I usually would have done and continued on with my rant, I went to move past him.

His hand reached out and grabbed a hold of my left arm, stopping me in my tracks. "You just don't understand, do you?" His voice was the perfect mixture of tortured and raged. As I tried to pull free from his grasp, he tightened his titanic grip on me. "He's not good for you."

I pointedly looked down at where his hand was holding me and then back up to his dark eyes and waited for him to realise that not only was he holding my arm a little too roughly but he was also doing so in public; if we had been out of the academy it would have looked like a lovers quarrel but to peering eyes within the academy walls it would look like a guardian trying to control an out of control novice. A big part of me was jumping up and down inside from his touch with a little voice singing along with accomplishment. Yay! he's jealous, he cares!

"You and I both know he's not the problem here," I pulled my arm from his grip and took a step back, letting the slow building darkness inside of me shadow every other feeling.

"You're right, he's not the problem. You are." His voice was still toxic, cold, so unlike Dimitri. "You're seventeen years old"

"Almost eighteen" I interrupted but he just continued to glare down at me.

"You're seventeen years old, I'm your instructor. Whatever is going on between us it has to stop. It's not right." He paused clearly trying to regain some of his control. "We're not right."

I swallowed the lump in my throat what felt like my heart. Was it his mission to make me completely and utterly heartbroken? He had already ignored my declaration of love earlier today and now he was taking my already bruised heart and breaking it into two. "You know for a moment I thought you were suffering from a regular human emotion..." I thought it would be hard to keep the tears at bay but it was surprisingly easy, though no doubt the full impact of our conversation would hit home and I would cry like I've never cried before. "You know what - you're absolutely right." For once he wasn't going to be the one to walk away, I wouldn't let him. "And as my instructor please do me a favor...be an instructor and mind your own God damn business when it comes to my personal life." I turned my back on him.

"I care about you, Roza" Again with my silent prayer. He was tainting the once sweet caress for every time he spoke my name in Russian, it was always followed by the ugly truth; that we were wrong for one another, that we couldn't be together, yadda yadda yadda. I had heard it all before. "You have no idea how much I care about you...I can't even find the words to describe how I feel for you."

And yet I had. Earlier in the day I had uttered those sacred three words and not heard them in return. "Say it then..." I whispered with the wind. I wanted and needed him to tell me that he felt the same way about me, that I wasn't alone in this. I turned and looked up at me and could feel my cheeks flush with the sudden intensity in our conversation. "Say it..." I demanded.

He didn't.

"Rose..."

I moved to go past him but he reached out to stop me once again, only this time I ducked out of his grip and moved to the side so that he couldn't see my face. "Don't..." My voice broke and his hand dropped from my eyesight. I continued to move forward with betraying tears falling down the side of my face, I moved forward and left him where he wanted to be; in my past.

As a form of punishment having to spend six hours patrolling the grounds with Dimitri following me, watching me was pretty brutal. We didn't speak to one another after those first excruciating five minutes but I could feel his eyes on me when they should have been elsewhere; waiting to see when I would go all psycho-Rose. But I didn't, I wouldn't. I had switched on auto pilot and was just going through the motions.

I was relieved from my watch and ordered back to my room to sleep. But instead of hitting the sack straight away, I undressed and jumped in the shower to try and scrub away yesterday's memories. The feel of the hot water beating against my back released the tension some pent up physical tension but something was still stirring deep inside of me. Under my skin, pulsing through my veins with my blood was another sort of tension and I could feel it building up.

I closed my eyes and concentrated on my breathing, it was one of the many exercises the shrink had told me to do if things got too much...

My right hand clenched into a fist and without thinking it impacted against the tiled wet wall, over and over again. With each punch I could feel the built up tension inside of me dimming, the anger was subsiding and turning into something else. I fell to my knees under the raining shower head and cried my broken heart out.

--

I didn't sleep well that night; the cuts I had sustained from self mutilation were stinging like a wasps prick not to mention the constant ache in my chest that refused to go away. Sure I may have literally beat back the darkness inside of me but for some reason I couldn't make the feeling of complete and utter devastation disappear.

"Knock, knock."

I looked up from my bed and watched as my bedroom door partially creaked open. Lissa was peering through the tiny gap, her light jade eyes finding mine. I could sense through the bond that she had come to apologise for yesterday, even though I had been the one to fly off the handle – though with good reason.

"Hi," My voice croaked from crying all night but she would just assume that the raspy voice was from having just woken up. "Come in," I said after a moment of silence. Normally she would have waltzed into the room with a beaming smile and ordered me out of bed however she was holding back, tip toeing around me because she thought I was still mad. I was…just not at her.

Lissa pushed the door opened and smiled sheepishly as she walked into my bedroom. Her eyes made a quick assessment of my untidy room before she turned and face me. "I'm-"

I pulled my hand out from under the duvet and raised it in the air to stop her from apologising. "Don't…its okay." It was anything but okay but she didn't deserve to punish herself for pursuing something close to her heart. "I understand why you didn't tell me and I understand why you want this so much." She longed to be a better person, she wanted to control her spirit ability and be able to put it to a good use. I could hardly blame her for following her hearts desire when yesterday I had done exactly the same thing. "Just no more lies…"

"No more lies…" She promised. Moving across the room she came and sat on the edge of my bed, a worried look crossing her face causing her eyes to dim slightly and for a crease to appear in her forehead. "Are you alright?" Shuffling on the bed she moved closer to me and reached out, running her hand along the side of my face.

"I'll be fine." I tactfully ducked from having to answer the question. I was anything but fine, but I would be or at least I hope I would be.

"Is it Adrian?" She asked with probing eyes.

That caused my brow to crease. "What?" I asked, confused.

Lissa eyed me suspiciously before continuing. "Everyone is talking about the two of you." She must have seen something in my expression to tell her that I had no idea what she was talking about because she continued. "The two of you making out in the courtyard right before your guardian watch last night. Apparently it was quite steamy." Her lips turned upright into a smile.

Amazing, someone had seen the two second kiss between me and Adrian and yet no one had seen the interaction between Dimitri and me. I sat further up in the bed and shrugged my shoulders, not denying the kiss but not expanding on it either.

"Oh my god!" She squealed in my face before throwing her arms around my neck. Through our bond I could sense her delight for me, at finally moving after Mason's death. She had been really worried that my capability to love had been damaged severely with the loss of Mason. If only she knew that my capability to love had been damaged only last night…

"Lissa…" I sighed and pulled back from her hug, raising a brow. "It was one little kiss, we're not exchanging rings or anything!"

"I know…" She pulled back and studied me, "I'm just so happy that you're finally happy. You have no idea how worried I've been about you these past couple of months."

"I know," I reached up and tapped my forehead. She frowned at me when I reminded her of our one way bond.

"Ugh, I swear one day I'm going to find a way to see inside your head." Lissa bit her bottom lip and then smirked, "But then again maybe that wouldn't be such a good idea, who knows what I would find in here!"

Reaching behind me I pulled one of my pillows from its resting place and threw it at her.

She caught the pillow, stood up and threw it back down at me. "Now get ready, we're gonna be late for breakfast." Lissa turned her back on me and began to tidy my room by picking up the dirty laundry from my floor. "Wait…" She paused and turned back to look at me just as I pulled the covers back from my sleepy body. "Shouldn't you be training with Guardian Belikov?"

I stood up from the bed and shook my head, "No," Again with the croaky voice. "With the trials coming up and the…" I struggled to find my words and tried to stop my mind from going back to the scene of the crime, "everything else it was decided that I should probably just concentrate on keeping your lover boy alive for the next six weeks." I went into my bathroom, closed the door and released several deep breaths I hadn't known I had been holding in.

I was obviously going to have to work a little harder at acting as though nothing were wrong…

Five minutes later I was dressed and ready for a hard day of work. I, like the other novices didn't have any classes to attend; we were supposed to be putting in some last minute training sessions to prepare for the up and coming trials but due to the predicament I found myself in yesterday, I was exempt from training. Instead I was supposed to report to Dimitri over on the elementary campus after breakfast.

"Whoa…" Lissa's eyes widened as I stepped out of the bathroom.

"What?" I asked confused and looked down my tank top, figuring that I must have spit some toothpaste on it while rinsing my mouth.

"Nothing…you just look like someone I used to know."

"It's only a little makeup." I brushed off the comment. So I had put on a little foundation, blush, mascara and eyeliner…

"And a lot of skin." She referred to my white tank top which not only was practically see through - showing off the black laced bra underneath but it was also cut fairly low allowing little room for the imagination.

"I've had this forever." I said about the top.

"Yeah and I remember when Jesse Zeklos tried to remove it at my brother's party in freshman year." Lissa was confused as to why I was trying to revert back to my old self. I could see the two Rose's in her head, the wild child who used to be the life and soul of a party and the responsible girl who had saved her from being bitten by a Strigoi less than a month ago.

I scoffed, "Don't worry, that wont be happening again." I turned and slipped into my white Nike sneakers and threw my hair up in a messy pony tail. "My taste has…matured," I joked to myself, astounded at my own ability to joke about him. Sure the ache in my chest was there but wearing these clothes, acting like this was the perfect camouflage.

"Matured…" She raised her brow at me as I moved across the room to stand beside her. "Interesting choice of words" So she had picked up on that – only she was thinking of the wrong matured man.

--

Lissa and I met Christian at the door to the cafeteria. He was waiting there for Lissa as usual, it was good to see that I hadn't gotten him in trouble with her after yesterday.

As we approached his eyes widened. "What is this Halloween?" He asked giving me the quick once over which made my skin crawl.

"You're hilarious, Ozera, I think I might have cracked a rib" I responded dryly. Instead of meeting my glare he simply grinned at me.

"Well if you go in there looking like that, you might have to crack a few ribs." His grin diluted slightly and he sighed. "You just causing trouble don't you?"

It was hard to keep up with erratic mood swings, one moment he were having a laugh joking around and the next… "Do you have a split personality disorder?" He reminded me to much of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde or more closer to home, his erratic mood swings reminded me of me.

"Come on Lissa, we should get to the feeders." He took a hold of Lissa's wrist and led her into the cafeteria towards the feeders room but not before casting a quick glance over his shoulder in my direction.

A whistle echoed down the hallway. I didn't need to turn to know who it belonged to. "Like something you see?" I asked not bothering to turn and face him. Placing my hands on my hips I waited for a quick retort but instead I felt his warm breath touch the side of my neck.

"Little Dhamphir…such a tease." He side stepped me and stood in front of the cafeteria doors. Unlike Christian and Lissa's quick once over, his eyes took their time scanning my curves. "You know you don't have to wrap yourself up for me…" He grinned and stepped closer, "I'd gladly take my present unwrapped."  
I stepped closer to him and leaned up to whisper in his ear, "In your dreams."

"I think you mean our dreams." He smiled into my neck before placing a soft tender kiss on the indent of my shoulder. "I take it I didn't get you in too much trouble with Hercules last night?"

The thought of Dimitri and last night was already weighing heavy on my hardass façade but hearing Adrian mention it, I thought I would fall to my knees and cry again. Instead I kept my emotions in check and pulled back to look up into his beautiful green eyes. "No more trouble than usual," I responded and watched with a smirk as I rendered Adrian speechless.

Obviously he had been waiting for my usual rebuke at his advances and to call time on his flirtations. He hadn't been prepared for his charm to be mirrored back onto him.

"So…" I stepped in closer to him and observed that I couldn't smell a trace of alcohol or tobacco on him. Looking up into his focused emerald coloured eyes I could also that I had reached him before he started his daily use of medication, "How about another repeat performance of yesterday?"

His facial expression told me that he was as shocked as I was by proposition. He recovered quickly and quipped, "That depends…"  
"On?" I cursed myself inwards. This was a game I didn't want to play and yet I was. It had been easier.

"Rose…" A voice interrupted us.

Adrian grinned and turned to cast a quick glance at our intruder and then faced me again. He puckered his lips intrigued, "How far would we go without interruptions?"

As far as it takes to get Dimitri out of my head, I thought.

"Rose…" His voice grew louder and demanding. "Gymnasium. Now."

"You'll just have to show up to find out." I grinned up at him and unearthed my almost forgotten man-eater smile. I leaned up and planted a kiss on the side of his cheek, leaving a perfect imprint of my glossed lips. My grin died as I turned in my sneakers and walked away from Adrian.

I followed him to the gymnasium. He held the door open for me and I stepped inside and a few seconds later the door slammed shut.

Hold your ground, Hathaway, I ordered myself. Don't let him see you cry.


	14. Chapter 14

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_Okay so, I lied...this chapter isn't bigger but I think it is better, which is the important thing. Well actually the most important thing is I've found my next route for this story...the bad news for those who enjoy this story; it will have to wait until after the New Year. I'm off on holiday in two days...but please don't let that stop you from reviewing. Keep the inspiration flowing..haha, I feel cheap and dirty asking but the reviews do really inspire. :) _

_So have a merry christmas and a happy new year!! And hopefully you'll enjoy this next installment. As always apologise for grammer, spelling mistakes etc. It is 3.10am here. _

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He paced the wooden gymnasium floor without even glancing down to look at my severely pissed off expression. It was a hard mask to maintain but it was important that not to give him an indication that his rejection had broke me. "Well?" I asked following his footsteps closely with my eyes. It was also safer to keep my eyes far away from his seducing dark eyes.

"This isn't easy for me," Dimitri stopped pacing the floor and stood directly in front of me, just off of the work out mat. "You don't understand how…" He paused obviously not knowing how to continue which was strange, sure he may have been a man of few words but he always knew what to say. "I don't like seeing you with him."

That admission earned him an opened mouth expression from me. We locked eyes and for the first time I was the one who had to turn away. "What do you expect me to say to that?" It was weird having this private conversation with him in a somewhat public environment and it was even more shocking that he was willing to having this conversation where the threat of someone walking in on us was high.

He opened his mouth but quickly closed it shut tight; obviously deciding against whatever he was going to say.

I stood up and shook my head with disbelief. "Well comrade when you decide next time to drag me back here by the root of my hair all caveman like, please do us both a favour and think about what you're going to say first…uncomfortable silences really aren't my thing." I moved to past him but his hand like a viper, sprung out and enclosed my bicep, stopping me in my tracks. I sighed and looked down at his hand and then up into his troubled dark eyes. His mood swings were getting old, fast. "Haven't we already done this?" I asked, it felt like we had done this dance more than once. "You say that I'm too young, I tell you that you're being an ass, we walk our separate ways for a couple of weeks before ultimately being thrown back into the same position we're in now." I wasn't entirely sure if that had made sense to him, but it did to me. "Well I'm done…I'm done playing by your rules."

"It's a little more complicated than that," Dimitri said through gritted teeth, obviously struggling to keep a lid on the control he fought so hard to keep in check.

"It's not actually," My tone suddenly turned icy and bitter. "You either want me or you don't." And that was the truth, sure he could talk about how we were breaking rules, how it wasn't supposed to be…yadda, yadda, yadda…but at the end of the day, emotion overpowers everything else. "And before you say that we can't be together because of my age or the fact that we're both going to be Lissa's guardian in less than three months, think about this…" I stepped closer to him, leaned up on my tiptoes and wrapped my arms around his neck bringing his mouth closer to mine. And that was it. Self control was gone.

He leaned down and brought his lips down to mine, kissing them almost bruisingly. His hands cradled my face as the kiss deepened and hardened. It was exactly the response I had wanted.

My arms disengaged and I pulled myself back from the kiss before he could do a classic Dimitri; think things through and the pull back out because of his stupid morals. "You kissed me back!" Despite my broken heart battling heavily against my ribs, my voice held a righteous tone to it.

This time when I moved to pass him he didn't reach out and grab a hold of my arm but instead blocked my path to the exit with his overpowering frame. His eyes held a dangerous glint to them and I suddenly found myself back-pedalling, fearing whatever emotion was about to burst from him. If the look on his face was anything to go by, I needed to batter down the hatches because hurricane Dimitri was about to hit shore.

"What did you expect me to say last night?" Okay so far nothing to worry about, his tone was startling gentle and held a mysterious quality I couldn't identify. "Did you expect me to tell you that you're all I think about?" His eyes grew troubled and I recognised that mysterious quality; like me he was a tortured soul. "Did you expect me to tell you that during our sessions I find it incredibly difficult to stay profession when my mind is constantly thinking of how close and warm you are?" I could feel my cheeks growing more flushed by the second and yet somehow I wasn't ready to back down.

"No I didn't expect that," I admitted honestly. "I expected nothing." It was sad but true but I had actually expected the reaction he gave. "I expect nothing…and how sad is that." My voice cracked on the last part, my beaten and broken heart surfacing slightly.

"You need to go, now." He was breathing heavily, showing signs of the emotions lying behind his ultra cool mask and yet it still wasn't enough.

"No, actually I don't." I folded my arms across my chest. "You're not going to get rid of me that easily." The words stubborn and obstinate had been thrown around when describing me during school reports. I was like a dog with a bone, I didn't like sharing and I certainly wasn't going to give it up for nothing. "Here and now, tell me…" Okay so it came out as a scattered request, but he knew what I was implying.

"I can't." His voice held that aspect again.

"No you won't…"I shook my head and rolled my eyes. "There's a difference."

"There isn't a difference. I am your instructor, Rose. You are my student." Old argument, new day… "It's wrong and highly inappropriate."

"Right," I scoffed sarcastically. "As inappropriate as say… sticking your tongue down my throat thirty seconds ago?" Okay slight exaggeration, his tongue and played a little dance over my bottom usually pouting lip it certainly hadn't made it way anywhere near my throat, but I was making a point so slight exaggerations were allowed. "As inappropriate as say telling me that you don't like seeing me with Adrian?"

I could tell by the way his facial expression changed during my little speech that he could see my point. And still he remained silent.

"You can't have it both ways. Either man up or shut up." If there was something highly inappropriate, it was speaking to an instructor like that.

The silence grew deadly and we remained standing a foot away from each other, staring one another down. I wouldn't be the first to break no I refused to be the one to break.

"Rose…"

"No!" I almost shouted. His reasonable tone was back in play and it wasn't my friend. "I don't want another one of your holier than thou, reasonable speeches." I was ninety nine percent sure that if he started sprouting his Zen speech, my weird blood bond related mood swing would make an appearance.

"You don't understand…"

I cut him off again. "No, you don't understand. I'm seventeen year old novice whose life is going to be dedicated to protecting another person's life. I know I'm not getting a happily ever after, I know that the probability of me seeing the age of thirty is pretty damn slim considering my charge." Lissa was a popular target for Strigoi; they had some weird obsession with wanting to take out the last of the Dragomir's. "This is basically as good as it gets for me, so I don't wanna sit back and let life pass me by. I'm choosing to live in the now because I'm not going to get to experience any of this later." Choosing to be a guardian was a life sentence, it meant that your social life was pretty much non existence and you could kiss goodbye to any kind of romantic encounters, unless you did the whole one night stand thing. Being a guardian was saying goodbye to freedom – a notion I had come to terms with years ago.

But things had changed. I was older, wiser and had experienced more. Lissa had been my life then – now, things were different. I wanted things for myself and a part of me resented that I had to put my life on hold because of a decision I had made when I was ten years constant conflict inside of me made me want to pull my hair out by its roots but then I would be without the one thing I truly loved about myself and the one thing physical thing Dimitri had admired openly about me; my long raven coloured hair.

"I don't want to have any regrets." I summed it up and shrugged my shoulders, "The only question is…do you?" This time I was able to successfully manoeuvre my way around his extraordinarily large body and made my way to the exit. This time he would have to be the one to think things through.

--

After the heart wrenching conversation in the gymnasium between Dimitri and me, I had decided that a little charity couldn't hurt. I made my way over to the elementary campus and apologised to one of the Guardian instructors for being tardy, he had totally swallowed my little white lie about feeling a little battered, bruised and emotionally drained due to the last couple of days.

"Okay class…" He turned and faced the young dhamphirs who were currently engaging in a little healthy one on one session. "We have a guest instructor today," Guardian Williams turned and looked at me. "Rose Hathaway will be assisting in today's session."

I turned and faced the class, the majority of who were giving me doubtful expressions. "And here's my first tip of the day, appearances can be deceiving." Sure I may have looked like a little like a made up street walker but my right hook was deadly.

Guardian Williams sighed beside me. "If you have any questions for Miss Hathaway now would be the time to ask. I'll be back in five minutes" He moved across the classroom turned mini gymnasium and left me alone with the little dhamphirs.

"Why are you dressed like that?"

I turned and appraised the class quickly, trying to determine which snot bagged mini tween was asking the question. "Like what?" I asked, hoping to identify him quicker.

"Like a hoe…" He clarified. The snot bagged mini tween in question had dark blonde hair and sparkling blue eyes and judging the way the others stood around him I was left with no doubt that I was being addressed by a mini-outspoken Rose Hathaway in the making.

"Like I said looks can be deceiving…" And after the last twenty four hours, I was a little less forgiving than I should have been. "And sometimes they're not," I slowly let my eyes run over his scrawny body and allowed the others to see that I was appraising him carefully. "Like for instance…" My eyes met his and I felt instantly cruel but the little brat needed to be knocked down a few pegs so he was standing level with the others. "I can tell just by looking at you that you're top of the GCT class but in a couple of years when you finally make it into the advanced class, you'll suffer because while you're showing off how you can throw your leg really high in the air while maintaining that arrogant little smirk and producing a quick one liner, one of your classmates will have learned a four step strike attack which will leave you with a bloody nose and cut lip." Okay so I was being a little mean. "Now…anyone else want to ask me why I'm dressed like a …" I turned and glanced a little Mr Populars pouting face, "hoe?"

"Is it true that you fought two Strigoi?" A timid voice called out.

"With a little help from my friends," I turned my back on the class and lifted by hair up to show off my molnija marks. The sound of rushed footsteps became prominent as they gathered around to look at my marks of honour. I hadn't been to keen on putting them on display, it was another reason I wore my hair down. I preferred no one asked about them because of what they represented, what they reminded me of; Mason and how he had died.

"W-o-w," There were collective gasps and wow's making the rounds in the class. I let my hair fall back down to hide the marks and turned to face the now closer students.

"What was it like?" The only girl in the class tilted her head, wondering. "Are they as scary as they say?"

I didn't want to scare them by telling them the truth; that they were far scarier in person but they deserved to know that some of the stories floating around about how Strigoi are fairly easy to kill were wrong. "Everything is just…faster," I said struggling to find my words.

I sat down and watched as the students gathered in a semi circle around me and followed suit, sitting down, crossed legged. "They are incredibly fast just like we're told but its not until you're thrown into that situation that you realise just how fast they are."

"Oh yeah, if they're so fast how come you're not red eyed and thirsty for blood?" It was the same little snot nosed brat interrupting.

"I have good friends who were with me and able to help…and I was…" Enraged, I wanted to say. Watching Mason die at the hands of that monster had caused something inside of me to snap. I should have been scared, it would have been normal. The Strigoi who had snapped Mason's neck in two had did it without missing a beat – and yet all of the fear that should have surrounded me was absent; instead I was inconsolable and past the point of no return. Instead of telling them the thoughts and emotions I was going through, I decided to make turn the question into something a little more productive.

Guardian Williams returned five minutes later to a class of students, sprawled out across the floor writing on a piece of paper five ways of avoiding Spokane and five different escape strategies if they had been captured, like my friends and I had been.

At the end of the class, Guardian Williams commented that he was impressed that I had taken the initiative to turn a simple quick fire question round into something creative. I had in turn asked him to remember that impressed feeling when he was writing the report for Kirova.

--

With class expended for the novice class and my punishment session over and done with for the day, I opted to go back to my dorm room to catch a little shut eye before I had to be back at the gymnasium to have my one on one session with Dimitri. But instead of walking into a slightly messy, empty bedroom as I had left it, I walked in and found Dimitri sitting on my bed.

Now this was inappropriate.

But before I could make a quick remark he opened his mouth and silenced me with his words.

"You are all I think about." His statement was frustrated as I had expected it to be but instead his voice held a defeated aspect to it.

"I'm just tired of doing this," As soon as the words escaped my mouth a weight felt like it had been miraculously lifted from my shoulders. My eyes looked up and found that his expression mirrored that tortured tone. "I'm tired of going back and forth, one minute you seem like you might …" I paused not knowing exactly how to word it, so opted to move on instead "and the next it's like I'm a fricken leper." And I was no leper.

"It's just difficult for me…" His face twisted into a pain expression which had me instantly regretting my childish behaviour towards him these past couple of days.

I closed the bedroom door behind me and walked over to the bed, sitting beside him. He turned and regarded me sincerely. "I wish I could be more like you, Rose…"

"What, a constant pain in the ass?" I quipped trying to collect myself from the 180 response he had given me this morning.

His rare smile made an appearance, "A free spirit, someone unafraid to say what they feel and think."

I lowered my head and closed my eyes, "I'm always afraid…" It was more being afraid of admitting certain feelings and not having them recuperated. Today I had put on a little…well a lot of make up and had made myself into the girl I had once been. But there was no going back, I knew that. If anything the costume which is what the clothes were…a costume to mask my true, broken self.

Dimitri's warm, strong hand reached out to lift my chin so that I would open my eyes and look at him. "I admire your strength and I'm constantly amazed at your ability to see through me." He paused as he shifted his body back slightly so I could see his entire face rather than just his pretty irises.

"I hope your working up to a humiliating declaration of something because it would only be fair." It was a typical Rose Hathaway manoeuvre; break the thick tension by cracking a somewhat insensitive remark.

His hands cupped my face before he leaned in and planted a soft, sensual kiss on my lips, causing them to tingle under the surface. He leaned his forehead against mine and whispered into the air. "I love you, Roza…" A small smile touched his face and I reached forward and traced his bottom lip with my finger. "I'm just not as eloquent at saying it as you are."

"I don't know…" I could barely breathe, "I think you're doing a pretty good job right now…" I was about to kiss him again when something knocked the breath completely out of me. My body flew back on the bed from this invisible force and I screamed out in pain as a searing sharp pain shot through my stomach.


	15. Chapter 15

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_Authors Note: Wow - a good seven months without an update. I apologise to those who are still by some miracle reading this story, or any of my stories for that matter. This chapter isn't my best, I would most definitely be the first to admit that but I haven't written anything in seven months so I'm finding my feet, once again. So I apologise in advanced if you feel as though you wasted your time but if by some miracle you still find this story somewhat entertaining and have the patience of saint to continue, then hopefully I'll get back into the saddle. _

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"But what happens if you don't show up?" Lissa had asked me less than a month ago, her voice filled with doubt and worry. I was like a dog with a bone when it came to her, my best friend and my future charge - determined to be there, I would move heaven and hell if two things such things existed to get to her, to protect her. The question reverberated through in mind, what would happen if I didn't show up? Well she was about to find out.

A cool harsh breeze brushed against her body, no doubt causing the tiny blonde hairs on her arms to stand up. Her whole body was trembling from the impact of whatever had penetrated through her skin and stabbed her abdomen. Her eyes were closed but that didn't stop the watery tears from escaping their home, the tears trickled quickly down the side of her white as snow cheeks.

'Come on, Liss' I pleaded mentally with her trying somehow to reach through to her mentally. She needed to open her eyes and scan her surroundings so I could get a sense of where she was.

Just as if she heard my plea, her eyes opened slowly and proceeded to narrow as she peered up at the darkened sky. The stars were out in full force tonight shining down on her.

"There you are," A male voice spoke to her. "We thought you had passed out on us for a second," the male in his tone very much evident. As Lissa turned her head to catch a glimpse of her attackers she was quickly blinded by black cloth which was pulled over her head.

"Come now, Princess!" Another man chimed in, laughing bitterly. "Did you really think we would give you a chance to compromise us?" She could feel his breath against her ear, even through the darkened cloth. "We know all about you."

The tears began to escape her eyes more quickly as she thrashed around on the floor. They may have blind folded her but they hadn't tied her down. She moved with the intention of trying to see if she could stand or at least roll but was rapidly pushed further into the hard ground. "If you don't let me go," Before she could carry out her threat, she screamed out in pain for the first time as a foot pressed against her abdomen.

"Not even the all powerful Dragomir's can fight silver...but please, entertain us..." I didn't need to see through her eyes to know that there was a smirk on his face. Mother f---. Lissa didn't need to be told twice her hands were like lightning, already covering the blood gushing from the wound.

"She's doing it" A female awe struck voice chimed in. Jesus how many gutless Moroi did it take to capture an unarmed and an unguarded princess and poison her?

And she was doing it. Lissa was healing herself but very slowly. The silver was quick to taint her blood and it took more of her energy than she had ever used before and she was still bleeding. Through the bond she reached out to me with what little energy she had left. Do it, I thought selflessly. It wasn't like I was getting up anytime soon. And like a vampire she started sucking the life from me.

"Rose..." Dimitri's frantic voice called out to me, willing me back to him. If it had been anyone else I doubt it would have worked, but he could always find me in the darkest of places and bring me back home, home to him. I opened my eyes to find his furrowed brow an inch away from my face. I shook my head as he went to ask me what was wrong - not yet. I rolled onto my side the best I could with his steel body fixed like a rock at my side and coughed up blood onto my perfectly clean beige carpet.

"Lissa..." Was all I managed to spit out before turning into the fricken exorcist child - only instead of spewing up today's dinner, I was apparently going hardcore and donating the majority of my blood supply to my carpet. Well that was just fan-freaking-tastic.

But instead of leaving my side as he should have done, he used the handy little radio in his that must have been stuffed into his trouser pocket and radioed a code black and with his free hand he stroked the side of my face, keeping my raven hair away from my face.

Faintly through the bond I heard Lissa scream out my name before both she and I blacked out.

---

It was becoming a habit of mine, waking up in the school's hospital wing - only I wasn't usually dressed like a patient or wired up like the terminator. There was an IV drip sticking out of my right arm, a long tube coming out of my nose and I was sporting one of those blue things on the tip of my index finger to monitor my heartbeat...what were they called? My mind drew a blank, in fact my mind wasn't up and running to its usual Rose Hathaway standard, if it were I would have been out of there quicker than a heartbeat. But as it was I found out as I tried to turn my head, I wasn't going to be doing much moving - at least within the next couple of minutes.

Apparently my kick ass dhamphir skills were on the fritz too because it took me more than a minute to realise there were other people in the room.

A man dressed in an ultra clean white lab coat came over to my bedside, his eyes widened when he saw that I was awake. "Welcome back, Miss Hathaway." I squinted trying to right my eyesight, he was wearing a name badge, I could see that quite clearly but what I couldn't make out were the little squiggles on it, squiggles which I presumed would have been his name.

"I'm...not," My words came out stuttered and I found myself breathless.

The doctor nodded apparently understanding the unspoken words. "You lost a lot of blood." He looked down at my abdomen, my eyes trailed down the sheets covering my body. "The wound is healing but you're still under an anesthetic for the pain."

My brow furrowed, "Wound?" I asked confused.

The nameless doctor peeled back the sheets covering my body and lifted up the horrible white hospital gown past the pink boyshorts covering my modesty and up to the edge of my ribs. There just under my toned stomach was a good three inch cut covered with thin black crisscross stitches.

What the hell? I went to open my mouth to ask another question but the doctor silenced me with his words.

"The best you can do right now for everyone, is rest..."

I wanted to protest, I wanted to get up out of the stupid bed, go find my best friend and kick some serious ass but I just simply couldn't. My eyes began to droop as a warm masculine hand stroked the side of my cheek. A small smile touched my lips before I slipped out of consciousness ...again.

--

I think I slipped in and out of consciousness over the next twenty four hours. But this time, my eyes opened with no hesitation and no resilience. They must have lowered my dose of morphin because boy there was a sharp beating against my abdomen. A depressed sigh escaped my lips as I saw all of the tubes were still connected to me.

"You're awake then.."

I turned my head and found a somber looking Christian resting his chin on my bed, his eyes red raw from most likely sleep deprivation. "Anything?" I asked, my voice crackling rough like my throat had been dragged across sand paper.

He shook his head. "Where is she?" He asked me, expectantly.

"I don't know." I closed my eyes and took in a deep breath, trying my hardest to reach through the bond to find her, to feel her. But there was nothing. Usually whenever Lissa's heightened emotions overtook, it was easy for me to find her, hell it was even easier to slip into her. But there was nothing. "Nothing..." I bit down on my lip in frustration and reached out further.

"What does that mean?" Christian asked his tone harsh.

"I'm not a god damn radio station, I can't just tune into her whenever I want." I snapped, opening my eyes and unleashing my icy glare on him. It was unfair but there was raw emotion inside of me that needed to escape. I wasn't sure whether it was my own emotions or some leftovers from Lissa's invasion into me.

"Screw this..." I pulled the IV needle out of my arm, my eyes widening from the pain. Next the stupid blue thing on my finger and last but definitely not least the attractive tube coming out of my nose was pulled down.

"Where are you going?" Christian sat up, surprised by my movements. "The doctors said you shouldn't be moving let alone..."

I threw him a glare that shut him up. "You've got two choices cowboy, run with your tail between your legs and tell the big bad doctor that I've broken protocol or light a fire under your ass and get over here and help me get out of bed."

He was out of his chair in an instance and rounded the other side of the bed. His arm snaked around my waist, to carry the majority of my weight as my feet touched the floor.

"And don't get too excited, you cop a feel, I'll break your face." I threatened him, even though I knew perfectly well that he had absolutely no intention of feeling the curves my body had to offer. His red raw eyes were for Lissa and Lissa only.

"And how are you gonna do that if you can't even walk?" He asked with a hint of his former cocky arrogant self peering its ugly head, though his real question was, how did I plan on finding Lissa if I couldn't even walk?

I threw my arm around his neck as he helped me walk towards the door.

There was absolutely no need for what I did next. The door was unlocked but I had a point to prove. I stepped out of his grasp and stood firmly on my own two feet. I stepped forward and wobbled slightly, pushing Christian's hands away when he went to steady me. Letting out a deep breath I took another step forward and balanced on my left foot as my right leg sprung up in air and my foot impacted against the door.. knocking it only slightly off its hinges.

"Trying to prove a point to me?" He asked.

"No," I sighed. "To me..." I took two more deep breaths and this clenched my fists as my body tilted down and to the right, time I kicked the door with all the strength I could muster.

The door swung off its hinges and fell to the floor, the sound echoed down the hallway. Okay so it was only a wooden door - but it was an important stepping stone.

"Miss Hathaway!" There down the hallway stood with her arms folded over her chest, Headmistress Kirova and four other guardians, including Dimitri. They had obviously been on their way to see me. "What on earth are you doing?"

I exhaled heavily, my nostril flaring with strong emotion that I wanted to channel through productive violence. The anger and control I fought on a daily basis was simmering at the top, about to explode. Seeing him standing here, inside of the school while Lissa was somewhere out there, being prodded and poked or who knows what had me seeing red. "Something you people haven't been able to do.." My eyes met his dark troubled gaze. "Protect Lissa!"


	16. Chapter 16

Bureaucracy was a pain in the ass and it was the only thing standing between me and walking of this ancient, magically protected school...well that and a frantic headmistress.. a six foot seven, lean, well muscled Dimitri, oh and his almost but not quite equally god-like guardian sidekicks. According to the majority in the room, neither I or my newly acquired sidekick Christian were in a stable form to mount a rescue for my missing/kidnapped/injured best friend.

"I don't know what it is you think you can do, what either of you can do." Kirova turned her attention to Christian for a moment so not to leave him out of her condescending speech about our recklessness. There was a defeated tone to her voice for a change, she wasn't sitting before us as the headmistress, ultimate queen bitch of the school but rather a shadow of her former self, doubtful, questioning herself. "The Queen has already assembled a well qualified team together to search for the Princess." She added, trying no doubt to restore her own hopes that her well oiled machine of a school wasn't becoming a broken down, ready to be put out to pasture contraption.

"Well qualified?" I questioned with biting sarcasm, interrupting her and gathering stares from all the occupants in the room. Honestly, I did feel sorry for her and hadn't intended to make her doubt herself anymore than what she clearly was doing to herself, but my patience was mostly likely riding out wherever Lissa was. "What a bunch of bull..." I paused deciding to choose my words carefully, my patience may have been missing but my rational mind was still somewhat intact - barely. "It took the Queen's well qualified team over two years to finding two missing high school girls." I glanced over my shoulder at Dimitri to find his troubled eyes watching me carefully. "The same team that managed to let three Moroi kidnap a princess from one of the most," I raised my hands back in the air and turned my attention back to Kirova to air quote my next comments "prestigious and well protected schools in the world."

A deep fog of heavy silence fell over the room. In the past Kirova would have had my ass for an outburst like that, she'd certainly had it for much less than that but now she was sitting across from me, behind her desk somewhat slouched in her chair, defeated.

"The academy is a well protected school," The voice came from behind me and his rough tone was missing its usual platonic, easy going vibe. I could tell and from the look on Kirova's face she could too that Dimitri was pissed off ...and at me. "In the efforts to kidnap the princess, these Moroi broke through magical wards, killed two guardians and knew how to cover their tracks."

Wait, what? Two guardians had been killed? "How..." I went to ask a question but it died on my lips. How was it possible? Easy. The Moroi were professionals or as the human raced liked to call them, they were hit men. A combination of some form of martial arts with magic and you had a somewhat unstoppable opponent but instead of facing one, Lissa had found herself face to face with three.

Crap.

"Who would want to kidnap the princess?" One of the guardians asked from the back of the room, clearly newbie Davies still hadn't caught up on the history of his students and the academy. There weren't too many Dragomir's left in the world, in fact there was only one; Lissa. And she was a spirit user; an extremely rare Moroi ability to be able to heal and bring birds, people like yours truly back from the dead.

"Victor Dashkov would be high on my list." Christian stated simply.

"You mean Victor Dashkov, the Victor Dashkov who is currently rotting away in a state of the art, highly protected by some of the best guardians in the world not to mention magic that would make you quiver in your shoes if you felt even the slightest aurora prison cell in the city?" Guardian Davies retorted with a chauvinistic tone. Ass.

I sighed and faced him, "You mean like this magically and well protected institute?" My tone matching his, his brow raised with his frown becoming more prominent as he considered my words. Yes, I was insulting his magical, well protected institute which was ultimately an insult to him and his lackluster abilities. So apparently I had pissed off two guardians within the space of two minutes - that had to be some kind of record, even for me. I turned back to Kirova and shrugged my shoulders, "So what exactly do I have to do to cut through the red tape to get the hell out of here and find Lissa?"

"It's not as simple as that," Kirova took a breath before she wanted to continue but I interrupted, again.

"It never is with you people." I rolled my eyes and looked off the side of the room at the bookcase which took up almost half of the room. "What's exactly stopping me from walking out of this room and going to find her?" Glancing over my shoulder I eyed up Davies instead of going to the eyes which I usually sought out, fearing that if I looked into his eyes guilt or something would wash over me like a tidal wave. "Sure they can physically restrain me, but for how long?" I turned back to Kirova. "I broke out of this joint once before, I'm sure I can do it again..and this time I'll have a little magic on my side." I said in reference to Christian, making him a co-conspirator.

"You'll never make it past the front gates, sweetheart." Davies spoke up confidently or in my eyes arrogantly.

"Rose could disappear from the grounds quite comfortably." I turned and met his eyes for the first time, they had a weird proud like gleam to them. "It's what we've been training her to be...invisible when needed." He turned to Davies and explained. "Before it took us two years to find her - now with everything she's been through this past year, I doubt we'd ever find her if she didn't want us to." Dimitri told him matter of factly. Ha! One point for Rose, Davies still running around the end zone looking to score.

"What do you suggest, Guardian Belikov?" Headmistress Kirova asked. Everyone appreciated Dimitri's advice he was a well respected guardian and yet sometimes when he was spewing out his advice to me I wanted to shove my fist in his face, mostly because it was usually his opinion about us being together.

"Rose should go with a team and be a part of the search for the princess. We don't know how the bond works specifically, maybe Rose will be able to get a reading if the princess is near or maybe she won't. We know that Rose can sense princesses fate and has on more than one occasion shared a mind with her. The princess could come lucid and even if that is for a minute, it's still a minute for Rose to discover things we don't know." Long winded as usual, bless him he never could just dial it down to a simple sentence.

"In other words, it's beneficial for everyone if I'm a part of the team." I grinned despite the circumstances because I knew that Dimitri's argument was well just and there was no reason to say no. And who would? No one besides me ever said no to Dimitri.

"Fine, I'll get the paper work in order and send over the information to the Queen. But it would be better if you were already off of school grounds before her reply was returned." So the Queen's not so high opinion of me was well known. "Guardian Belikov as Rose's mentor and the Princess's official guardian you too will be a part of the team." Kirova waited for Dimitri to nod before continuing. "Guardian Davies with your previous experience in this field, I would like for you to join Belikov and Hathaway on the road."

"And me?" Christian asked irritated, most likely feeling like a third wheel in this conversation. "You want me to sit at here and what bake cookies? I may not be a mouthy, well trained novice.."

"Thanks..." Sarcasm was an old friend rearing its beautiful head for me.

"But I can throw a punch with a bit of heat behind it." He said referring to his ability. "Not to mention that with all this training you guys have been putting us through, I'm an ace with compulsion so if you decide that I'm not good enough for this mission then I'll just compulse as many guards as I need to get out of this joint..and then"

"Enough Christian," Kirova dropped her usual formal approach to students and called him by his first name. "If you can get legal consent from your aunt to leave the school and take part on this mission and if Guardian Davies and Belikov don't protest at your presence then you too will be able to leave the school grounds." Kirova stood from behind her desk, "But I would suggest sooner rather than later, the longer you decide to stay the less likely you'll find an outcome which suits you all."

And that was our cue to leave. I stood up and nodded to Kirova to show my gratitude, deciding to skip asking her why she wasn't going to ask for my guardian to give consent, because she knew full well that my mothers reply, much like the Queens would have been in the form of a hell-no.

I stopped outside of her office and watched as Christian followed me out, getting his cell phone out of his pocket while he walked.

"An ace with compulsion?" I asked with absolute disbelief.

"I'm not that bad..."

"You're not that good either," I retorted.

"Whatever it got me in your little black opts team, so why don't you do whatever it is you people do and come and get me in ten minutes." He didn't bother to wait for my response, he grinned as his phone became alive with a voice on the other end of the line. "Aunt Tasha..." Christian walked off down the hallway.

I turned my attentions to the door and watched as Dimitri and Davies approached me.

"This is a fool's errand." Davies frown was back in place.

"Then don't come. Stay here and be a good little Guardian," I turned and looked up at Dimitri. "I'll meet you in the gymnasium in ten minutes." I turned in my bare feet and began to walk away from the two guardians. "And don't call me sweetheart." I said loudly as I made my way to my dorm room, to get ready to face whatever it is we were facing.

--

Ten minutes later armed with a pair of my old faithful sneakers, dark blue tinted jeans, black v-neck sweater and a black jacket I was ready to walk a thousand miles, to kick a Strigoi's ass if needed be, I was ready and dressed appropriately for the unknown. When I walked into the gymnasium, I was surprised to find Adrian Ivashkov sat on the desk in the corner, waiting.

"What are you doing here?" I asked confused.

"I'm joining your little black ops mission." He said, with a wicked grin touching his lips

"Look despite what you may have heard, Adrian, this mission is completely hardcore and only the strong willed and those with strong arms may apply...and you kinda fall short on the last one."

"I'm not asking for your permission, Rose." Adrian stood from the desk and crossed the room to stand in front of me. His messy but usually well groomed hair was just messy today, his eyes were looking red and strained. "I was with her when she got attacked," Once again, breaking news was being delivered to me at a slow speedy today. "They knocked me unconscious and when I came too, I was lying next to a patch of grass covered with blood."

"Look...I know you feel responsible..."

"Of course I feel responsible, I could have prevented this." Adrian's troubled eyes bore down onto mine with a weight that I imagine could have easily sunk the titanic.

Leaning up, I touched his face with the palm of my hand. "They killed two, well trained guardians. There is no way you could have prevented this." I said trying to reassure him and myself at the same time. Maybe he was right maybe he was partly responsible but wasn't everyone in that case?

My well enhanced features didn't pick up the fact that the door had been opened and Adrian and I were currently being watched like we were in fish bowl, the only indication I got that there were other people in the room is when someone cleared their throat. I turned my head in the direction of the door and saw Davies, Christian and Dimitri stood there, ready to go...all with disapproving looks on their faces. I turned back to Adrian, looked up at my hand and closed my eyes taking a step back.

"Lover boy isn't coming." Christian was the first to break the silence and from his willingness to cut through the current tension, my bets were on him for the throat clearing.

Adrian plastered on his usual cocky grin at Christian, "I'm providing a private jet, what are you bringing to the table?"

"You wanna find out?" Christian took a step forward, Adrian laughed, Davies rolled his eyes and Dimitri, well he had the same unamused facial expression masking his face.

"Well this is gonna be so much fun, me and three broody, moody, guys.. but do you think we can hold out on the my ruler's bigger than your ruler's contest until we find Lissa?" I sighed and crossed the room to the others.

"Don't worry Rose, you wont be the only girl for long." Christian took a step back to his original position beside Dimitri. "My aunt is going to meet us in Missouri, she wants to help us."

"Great," I tried to sound enthusiastic at the prospect of having another person helping us with our search but did it really have to be Tasha Ozera? I sighed, sure I was being childish and petty, the issue at hand was finding Lissa, it shouldn't matter who was helping us... but it didn't really help that it was the woman who had tried to lure away Dimitri to a life of bliss and happiness, a life that didn't include me. "So what's our first move?" I asked Dimitri.

"We pay a visit to Victor Dashkov."

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_Author's Note: Hello to those still reading, if there are any of you still reading. I apologise for the lack of updates, but I've had no inspiration for this story but out of nowhere tonight like a punch in the face, it came out of nowhere and found me. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. _

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	17. Chapter 17

When we were younger, Lissa and I had been two completely different souls. She loved glitz and glamour, playing dress up with her mothers expensive clothes and jewelry and me, well I preferred getting down and dirty in the mud, play fighting with guys who were a couple of years older than me. I'd always been one of the guys more than one of the girls that was until I hit thirteen and my body took on a life on its own, giving me the dangerous curves all Moroi girls envy. Guys became more reluctant to throw down and instead they started drawing lines in the sand because they didn't want to inure what they wanted. Their reluctance didn't last long though, apparently the Hathaway wit and verbal put downs were enough to get them back into action; who knew guys didn't like to be emasculated by a woman?

"Are we there yet?" Christian moaned into the back of my seat.

"You sound like a five year old," I countered turning my head to look back at him. Sure I had always been one of the 'guys' but right now I would happily take on the 80's inspired make up and wild, big hair that looked like a bird had nested in it.

"Try not to salvia up the leather seats, Ozera." Adrian walked by Christian's seat with a grin slapped to his face, a glass of brandy in his right hand and sat down next to me. "I don't think the package included disinfecting soiled seats."

"I don't think the package included cleaning up the ashes of a Royal ass." Christian threatened back without missing a beat.

"Really?" I turned and looked at Adrian and then back to Christian. "Do you guys really want to go there?" I sighed and shook my head at their constant bickering. Sure it had been fun in the beginning when it was shiny and new but it was getting old really fast. "How are either of you gonna exchange blows when your unconscious at twenty five thousand feet?" I raised my brow between the two of them and grinned, "And you know I would do it..and I promise it would hurt." I stood up, stepped around Adrian's legs but felt his free hand touch the back of my thigh as I stepped past.

Before I knew it his hand had reached up, wrapped around my elbow and pulled me down onto his lap. "If you wanted to give me a lap dance little dhamphir, all you had to do was ask." His green eyes sparkled with mischief as his hand stroked down my arm. He leaned down and whispered in my ear, the scent on the brandy washing over me. "Your boyfriend doesn't look impressed.." His eyes turned from me and looked ahead, towards the pilot deck.

I looked over my shoulder and there true enough was Dimitri, standing there looking all... pissed. A frown touched my lips as I turned back to Adrian, "Well then I guess we had better make this look authentic." Before Adrian could register my comment, before he could wipe the smirk from his face voluntarily, my hand impacted hard against his cheek and glided across his face. "That authentic enough for ya?" I grinned and pulled myself off of his lap.

Instead of frowning or sulking as he has been known to do in the past when things dont exactly go his way, he plastered the grin back onto his face and winked up at me. "Always known you like it rough."

Rolling my eyes at him, I turned on my heels and walked towards the front of the aircraft where Dimitri was now sat with Davies. "So what's the plan?" I asked, sitting down on the empty chair beside them.

"The plan was for me to get some sleep but apparently we're still babysitting." Davies sniped and threw a quick glance at Christian and Adrian. "It's like watching a teen soap opera with the flirting, love triangles and slapping."

"Love triangles?" I raised my brow and quickly glanced under my lashes at Dimitri who was too busy looking down at a set of blue prints.

"You, Ivashkov and fire boy over there."

Dimitri snapped his eyes up and looked at me, not because of the accusation that Davies had just made but because of the banshee style, high pitched laugh that just erupted from my mouth. I wanted to stop giggling like a little school girl but the thought of there being a love triangle between those two and me, well it was absurd.

"Right..." Davies raised an amused brow at me.

I cast a quick glance at Dimitri who was looking at me and blushed, thankfully Davies had gone back to studying the blue prints that were on the table in front of them.

"So why exactly do we need blue prints?" I asked, trying to break the topic away from love triangles and romance and things that would make me think of Dimitri and what would have happened before Lissa had been attacked. "Aren't we just gonna roll into the prison, ask our questions, get physical if needs be and then leave?"

"Get physical if needs be?" Davies looked up again and smirked. "You know, Hathaway, your my kind of novice."

"Its important always to know your surroundings," Dimitri broke through the slightly weird tension that was beginning to mount and proceeded to 'teach' me. "Victor Dashkov has many connections and undoubtedly has some of the guards on his payroll."

"You mean you badass Guardians are subject-able to insubordination?" I faked a shocked face and continued to twist the nail, into what would probably be my coffin. "You mean your not all so noble and righteous?"

"If Dashkov talks and knows something undoubtedly he'll want something in return." Dimitri continued trying to ignore my little digs at him.

"And what if he's in on it?" I asked, stating the obvious.

"Then we'll deal with it." Dimitri looked up and met my gaze. His eyes were firm, like his exterior. Ready for anything, ready to do whatever was necessary.

"Obviously at this stage we're just hoping he's gonna talk to us." Davies added trying to lighten the atmosphere.

"Well then you might not wanna send comrade here in to do the talking." I thought of their last meeting together - where Dimitri had staked Victor's daughter Natalie, right in front of him.

"Guardian Belikov is one of the most composed guardians I've encountered, it would take a heck of a lot to get this guy riled up."

Ha! If he only knew how little it took to get Dimitri riled up, I mean a little bit of nitpicking about how he didn't care about me and a gentle push and he was losing his usual easy going, cool demure quicker than a fox. "Well when you stake a guys daughter, I kinda figure you automatically get crossed off their christmas card list."

The pilot came over the radio and informed us that we would be landing in Missouri in less than twenty minutes. Davies excused himself and stood up, walking away. Dimitri on the other hand went back to studying the blue prints, the same prints he had been studying for the past forty minutes.

"You've probably got them mesmerized by now," I said, trying to make conversation.

"It's important to be ready," Dimitri looked up from under his brow and pulled me into his dark gaze. "I wouldn't want to make another mistake."

Whoa.

"I'm sorry..." I bit onto my bottom lip. Before we had left St. Vladmir's I had practically weighed this entire debacle on his shoulders, blaming him for not being there for Lissa when she had needed him, needed us. "I didn't mean what I said back at the academy. I was lashing out," I took in a deep breath and sighed, "I don't blame you, I never did. I was just angry at myself and ...the whole blood bond thing was probably kicking my hormones up from mild PMS to danger Will Robinson."

Dimitri broke away his gaze and looked down at the blueprints once again but instead of studying them as he did before, he was just staring at them in distraction. "I'm not mad about that.." Dimitri looked up, his dark eyes becoming clouded over with something that made the butterflies in my stomach go crazy. "It's.." He stopped, again, as always did.

"Why do you always do that?" I asked, once again easily irritated.

"Do what?" He asked, confused.

"When you're about to open up and break away from your usual Dimitri way...you run back to your little shell and make me do all of the hard work" Well it wasn't usually hard work, for me Dimitri was almost an open book. I could tell him that I didn't like Adrian, well I did...kinda, just not in that way. But I done being the one to show him the obvious. He didn't need to study a blueprint to my heart, it was on the table for him to see but as usual, he was too busy being Mr Noble to see what was right in front of him. "And you know what, I'm not a mind reader, I don't know everything that you're feeling. I mean, sometimes its pretty obvious to me, like right now it's pretty obvious what your problem is...but I'm not reassuring you, I'm not going to hold your hand and say what you want me to say because you haven't earned it."

I stood up from the chair and stomped my way back over to my chair, squeezed past Adrian who this time didn't touch any part of my body and sat down in my uncomfortable leather seat.

Adrian leaned over and whispered in my ear. "Trouble in paradise?"

Trouble? Always. Paradise? Never. Our relationship had never been blissful, as much as I loved our stolen moments and the 'almosts,' but it was never paradise. In my eyes we were star crossed lovers except instead of having a feuding family to keep us apart, it was his sense of duty and my ...almost sense of duty.

We landed in Missouri to be greeted by the underrated beauty that was Tasha Ozera. If she hadn't tried to steal Dimitri away into the night a couple of months ago like the bandit I know thought she was, we would have gotten on like a house on fire. She was beautiful despite the scars on her face, she was smart and had a fighters attitude, which I knew Dimitri admired about her. She was perfect for him... and that's why I couldn't stand her.

"Dimka." Tasha wrapped herself around his six foot seven lean frame and took a minute too long for my liking to pull away. She was dressed in a pair of black skinny jeans, black ankle boots with barely a heels and a well sculptured top to show off the little curves she had. This wasn't a fashion parade, she should have been dressed for comfort not to try and turn heads. Tasha turned to Christian and wrapped him in a warm embrace, stroking the back of his head. "Everything will be okay." She soothed him with a mother-like genuine, comforting tone.

"Are we done with the mothers meeting or can we actually get this show on the road, I've got a best friend I'd like to find and some Moroi asses I'd like to kick." All five heads turned to face me with a quick snap and identical raised brows. "What?"

Tasha took a step towards me and smiled gently, "We'll find her Rose." They had obviously mistaken my hostility towards her as annoyance at the situation, well not all of them had. Dimitri was giving me one of those 'watch your step' looks, the same one he used me with me when I pushed him about us when he wasn't ready.

"Thanks...I'm sorry it's ...nice to see you Tasha." I smiled trying to matching my luke warm greeting. "So now that we've done the whole meet and greets, lets go and torture a prisoner!" I said perking up at the aspect of watching Dimitri and Davies in action.

"You're not coming..." Dimitri was of course referring to the three students, well two students and whatever Adrian was.

"If you think your doing this without me, you're dead wrong." The harshness in my voice surprised even myself. "I'm the only one who will get him to open up..." It wasn't a stretch from the truth. For some strange reason Victor seemed to confide in me, thinking that somehow Lissa and I would join his little clan of disillusioned nut jobs.

"Not the only one." Dimitri turned and looked at Tasha. Of course. I sighed.

"Compulsion?"

"She's one of the best."

"Well I'm sure you guys will have fun playing house...while" I stopped as Tasha's expression changed. She wasn't looking at me with those big, pity filled eyes but they were now shadowed with curiosity over my choice of words. Opps. " We'll..." I stuttered trying to gain back my pace of anger, "We'll just be sitting here twiddling our thumbs and doing jack all."

I walked away from the group and headed back to the plane. Why the hell had they even let us out of the school if all we were going to do was wait around for information. I threw myself up the steps and walked back onto the private Jet that Adrian had commissioned for us. As angry as I was a part of me knew that they didn't want to take us to the prison because it would be dangerous. But the rational side wasn't going to win out right now, I was too pissed to let it.

Dimitri appeared in front of me less than five minutes later, he had obviously been the one designated to make sure that I was trashing the place in a bitch fit. "That was insensitive, Rose."

He didn't need to define what exactly was insensitive, I knew exactly what he meant. "Yeah, well Dimka, I just don't care." I lied. I cared too much. "Why did you even let me come if you didn't want me here?" I asked confused, "You could have turned around and told Kirova that it would be unsafe. Everyone respects your opinion and they usually follow your advice." Everyone but me, I thought to myself, at least when it was his opinion about us.

"You wanted to be here..." He said matter of factly, as though it was as easy as that.

"But you don't want me here." I looked up into his troubled brown eyes and sighed. "Because I'm a distraction."

"Right." There was no need to play mind games this time, he had said it often enough in the past that he didn't want us to be together because if push came to shove and he had to choose between saving Lissa and protecting me, he would because of his feelings for me, always choose me. "I don't want you to get hurt."

"Then I'm in the wrong profession." I joked.

"I'll call you after we've talked to Victor." Apparently that was the end of our heart to heart conversation.

"Send him my love," and the sarcastic bitch was back.

---

I opened my eyes but all I could see was the darkness around me. Pitch black. My heart was in overdrive, thumping away actively in my chest trying to break free. "What do you want from me?" My lips moved but it wasn't my voice that came out, it was Lissa's. After three days of trying to reach through to her and nothing, she was here.

Lissa. I sighed. She was still very much alive according to how hard her heart was beating against her chest. She couldn't see anything and from what I could tell hadn't seen anything since they had taken her from the academy. Stupid blindfolds. She was sat on a chair, a cold metal chair which coldness was seeping through her denim jeans. Her arms were pulled behind her back and her hands tied together with a rough material, most likely rope.

"You know I'm getting pretty sick and tired of talking to a brick wall." Lissa called out in frustration, sounding an awful lot like me. Maybe this whole blood bond thing wasn't just one way. I had taken on her anger in the past and as of recently a stab wound and now she was starting to sound like a rebellious teen ready to whip out a quick verbal wit at a moments notice. "I can hear you breathing you know." She let out an exasperated sigh. "You sound like Darth Vader, not exactly stealth there buddy." Buddy? Okay so she was definitely taking on some of my more colourful aspects.

The sound of footsteps became clearer and more prominent. Well at least she had gotten their attention. Within a second her blind fold was off and she was able for the first time to really see the Moroi who had taken her hostage or whatever it this was. "We were told you were pretty placid but your a pain in the ass."

I grinned in spite of myself and our situation, I was proud of her for standing up for herself. Sure acting like me would probably get her killed but she had a fighting spirit.

Lissa glanced around the the room she was trapped in. It was barely lit but with her vampiric senses she could see perfectly. They were in ..a wine room? No, she squinted into the darkness and stared at the racks of alcohol that was fitted around the room. "You know who I am..." She said turning back to her attackers. "And you hold me hostage in the basement of a bar?"

"You shouldn't have taken her blind fold off." The long haired slender blonde in the corner scolded the dark haired, muscle bound guy in front of Lissa.

"Please my best friend used to be a member of AA, I can smell vodka a mile away...." Lissa paused while I quietly resented her character assassination of my past behaviour. I had been a party girl sure but I was hardly drinking my way to rehab. "And the music, what is that discotec? Oh my god.." She frowned, "80's music?"

Again the proudness reared its beautiful head. She was giving me all of the information that I needed without even knowing it. Lissa was trapped in the basement of some cheap club that couldn't even afford a properly formed working bench, listening to 80's music.

With a jolt I was back in my own body, face to face with Adrian.

"What the hell are you doing?" I asked, his face barely an inch from mine.

"Making sure that you hadn't OD, we've been trying to wake you up for the past ten minutes." He carried a distraught glint in his eye which suggested that he was genuinely worried about me.

"Have they called yet?" I asked jumping up out of my seat and knocking Adrian back slightly. Adrian looked from me hesitantly to Christian and then back to me. "He's not in jail anymore is he?" I shook my head with disbelief. "What did they say exactly?"

"When they had arrived, there were paramedics on the scene. Apparently Dashkov had escaped twenty minutes before they arrived, five guardians dead, nine with life threatening injuries and three unaccounted for." The three unaccounted for were most like the ones on the 'payroll.' Christian continued, "They're on their way back now, they should be here by the end of the hour."

"Well we won't be." I walked to the back of the plane, opened one of the black duffel bags they had left behind and pulled out a pretty shiny silver stake. "We're going hunting."

* * *

_A/N: Once again I hope you enjoyed this update, if not then I apologise for losing your interest. If so then hopefully a new installment will be up soon. Reviews are my friends, so be friendly :)_


	18. Chapter 18

It was hardly appropriate to leave three students by themselves, well technically two students and Adrian, a college student on the longest sabbatical ever. Not to mention leaving behind one of the black duffel bags containing lackluster weaponry but weapons all the same; a silver stake and silver bullets. Sure I didn't have a gun to fire those little bad boys off but I was pretty mean with a stake, or at least I thought I would be since technically this was the second time I had ever held a stake without 'adult supervision.'

"So tell me little dhamphir, why we can't wait..." He looked down at his expensive italian watch and then back up to me "thirty five minutes for Robin Hood and his band of merry men to get back?" Adrian asked throwing himself down in one of the leather airplane seats, clutching onto a half filled bottle of brandy. His tone was lined with a sneer that was clearly aimed at the object of my affection...not him.

I took a deep breath out of frustration more than anything else, sure it would make sense to wait for the others with strength in numbers and well, overall strength really but time wasn't on our side. I wasn't sure how long they would keep Lissa in the basement of that club, for all I knew from the lack of updates via our blood bond she could have already been on the road. Grasping the stake slightly harder with that thought, I tucked it into the back of my jeans letting out a small gasp when the cold metal touched my skin. Without a gun the bullets were obviously useless... unless... I took five of the perfectly manufactured silver bullets and popped them inside my jeans pocket. "We're what... ten minutes outside of the city?" I guessed, at most fifteen. I turned and faced Adrian and readjusted my black zip jacket. "By the time they get back and we finally leave to go into the city, we could have found the nightclub and"

"Saved the day?" Adrian finished my sentence with a raised dubious brow. "Let's be realistic, what are the chances of that happening?" He frowned and uncapped the bottle, taking a drink.

"When do you ever like to live in the real world?" I snapped unintentionally. Usually I was the realist but tonight I was more optimistic, I had to be. The more time we wasted here the more time Victor had of meeting up with his own band of merry men...and Lissa. "Look if you don't want to come you don't have to, you can stay here and relay the message and be a good little errand boy." I was being mean and I knew it, but I wasn't in the mood to play games. "Christian's out getting us a car...we can do this with or without you." I said kneeling down so that I was at eye level with him, "And as much as I hate to admit it, I would prefer it if you were with us."

Usually when I flattered his ego and made eye contact he perked up immediately, but not tonight. The frown remained in place and his eyes were deeply trouble. He leaned forward so that I could taste the alcohol on his breath. "I want to help, I do... but I want you to be safe."

I swallowed the trapped air inside of my throat from his admission. Sure in the past we'd flirted and even shared a quick kiss or two which had been because I was impaired thanks to my old, dear friend Vodka. "You don't need to worry about me," I said in a light tone to ease us away from wherever it is we were heading. "I'm a badass novice remember." I grinned and stood on my feet just as a horn beeped three times.

Stepping off of the plane, I looked at the car Christian and acquired for us. I wasn't a big car enthusiast but I knew that if a car looked sporty it was generally going to be fast.

Christian rolled down the window and waved his hand at the black sports car. "Well what do ya think?" His grin was mischievous, but then again he had just compelled some poor car park attendant to hand over the keys to an expensive looking car.

I grinned in-spite of myself and the moment. "Great, so I can add grand theft auto to my long list of defiances." I joked. If only Kirova knew that she had unintentionally played a part in committing a felony, I highly doubted she'd had been so willing to let us leave the campus. Walking around the side of the car to the passengers side, I looked up and saw Adrian approaching us. "Don't want to be the errand boy?" I asked playfully.

His somber look from before had completely gone and he was back to being his usual charming self. "Someone's gotta watch your ass especially if they want it at some point in the not too distant future." He opened the car door to the back seat and jumped in.

Just as I opened the passenger door the cell phone Dimitri had left with us started to vibrate in my jacket pocket. I really wished Adrian had just kept ahold of it, at least then I could plead ignorance later. I stepped into the car, opened the window and motioned for Christian to drive as I reached in and pulled out the cell phone. "Hello?"

"Rose?" Dimitri asked, "Are you okay?" It shouldn't have been his first question and he certainly shouldn't have been asking me when Davies and Tasha Ozera were most likely in ear shot. Obviously Adrian had told him that I had passed out to an extent from my encounter with Lissa.

"Yeah, I'm fine.. I was with Lissa." As I mention her name, the car sped. "She's in the basement of a club in downtown. I couldn't get a location but I highly doubt that most clubs in Missouri are playing cheesetastic eighties music."

"Could you.." He paused on the other end of the line and sighed into the phone. "Are you in a car?" Damn him and his super enhanced hearing abilities, lately I could barely tell when someone was sneaking up on me for an attack but then my hormones were on the fritz. "Rose..." His voice held that disapproving tone he only used when I was being 'reckless.'

"You know that this is the right thing to do. I mean how many clubs are having an eighties night in downtown Missouri on a Tuesday night?" It was a rhetorical question, the answer was most likely one, two at best. On the weekends it was a free fall but during the week clubs tended to have themed nights and they didn't like to compete for the same crowd.

"And what exactly is your plan for once you get to the bar?" He asked, questioning my reasoning. "What happens if there are guards at the doors? You don't know how many people Victor has at this place and you don't know who is there." Dimitri paused, "What if there are strigoi there, what are you going to do?"

"Um burn their asses and then stake them." I spoke as though it were the easiest thing in the world, like it had been an every day occurrence for me. Christian turned and looked at me from the corner of his eyes for the briefest moments. "Yes I plan to use and abuse you." I retorted to his look.

Dimitri sighed through the phone, undoubtedly figuring out that I had gone snooping through the left luggage on the plane. "Don't go into the club until we get there...do surveillance and call us with the name of the club and the location." He paused for a moment, his tone changing with his next words. "I mean it, Rose. Don't go in there." It was an order, one that I would have had to obey... if I was still on the school grounds...which I wasn't.

"Fine, surveillance it is." I lied. "I'll text you the location when we get there." I closed the cell phone and turned to look over my shoulder as Adrian tutted at me.

"Surveillance?" Christian asked skeptically.

I turned and looked at him, his hands on the wheel tightening causing the muscles in his forearm to become more distinct... ha, who knew he had them? "I'm not going to jump into a situation when I don't know what's waiting on the other side." I frowned at myself being rational, too rational for my liking. "But that doesn't mean I'll be twiddling my thumbs and waiting for the others to come either."

--

The wonderful thing about modern technology is that the world is in the palm of your hand, literally. I stared down at the cell phone amazed by the things it could do. We weren't allowed to have cellular phones on campus and there really was no point, the students were allowed to make long distance phone calls for free which came in handy when people wanted to contact their family members. My mother and I weren't particularly exchanging friendship bracelets but I sometimes would pick up the phone and call her, you know.. on christmas or... well christmas was generally the only time I used a phone.

"Did you know that you can google things on this?" I asked amazed, most likely sounding like an old lady out of time with today's youth.

"I hear you can even play music on them now too..." Adrian joked from the backseat, he of course had the newest iPhone available but rarely used it, I gathered like me, he wasn't into playing catch up with his family either.

"Yeah well it also has an interactive map and according to the beauty that is the internet," I smirked feeling positive for the first time in the past couple of days. "The only club playing eighties music in Missouri tonight is called The Chosen Ones," Which was kind of ironic considering the situation we were all in. The majority of the other clubs were playing alternative music, which must have been the rave now. It was a consequence of living on campus in the middle of nowhere - to be out of the loop on the latest music and latest trends. "And its three streets down, on Bond Street."

Christian slowed down and took the third turning onto Bond Street. He pulled up to the side of the road and parked on the curb. It was a no follow through street, a dead end with a buzzing night club situated right at the bottom. "So how do we do this?"

"We blend in.." Opening the car door, I stepped out onto the cold dark street feeling the bitter breeze against the side of my face. I unzipped my jacket and took it off. I pulled my black v neck jumper up and over my head to reveal the tight fitting black tank top which was currently showcasing my perfectly rounded assets.

"I think we should party together more often, little Dhamphir." Adrian grinned as he unzipped his black leather jacket and ruffled up his hair to make it have that unkept but trendy look that suited him. "You'll just have to blend into the background." Adrian threw Christian a smirk.

I took the cellphone and placed it my jeans pocket. "Seriously enough of that crap or you can both wait in the car." I considered pulling the stake out of the back of my jeans- it was going to be too noticeable considering the fact my entire curves were practically on display in hip hugging jeans and a skin tight tank top. But neither Christian or Adrian could carry it because it was silver, so it meant I had to get a little creative.. I walked around the car and took Adrian's hand and placed it on the small of my back so his arm was covering the outline of the stake. Once we were inside it would be dark and thanks to the push up bra from Victoria's Secret I was wearing, I doubted anyone was going to be looking at my back. "Touch my ass, I'll break your face." I grinned up at him.

The three of us made our way down the street towards the night club. Outside there were three bodyguards on the door, each dressed in a smart and expensive looking suit and all with ear pieces. Security was tight, at least it seemed to be but the good news was that they were human. To the left there was a velvet rope blocking a line of mostly underdressed women and smartly dressed men waiting to get inside. I wasn't going to wait in line.

"Rose what are you.." Before Christian had a chance to finish his question, I walked up to one of the security guards and battered my eyelashes in a subtle but obvious way at the same time.

"Hey..." I bit on my bottom lip and gave the guard a slow once over with my eyes, it made me feel dirty inside considering the fact he was at least thirty and looking at my boobs and not my face. "Do you think we could bypass the line, some of our friends are already inside and I'm missing out on dancing to Like a Virgin..." I was hoping that my boobs and the mention of sex were going to give me a 'collect two hundred and jump to go.'

"Sorry sweetheart," The guard finally looked up from my cleavage and regarded me seriously. "We're currently at capacity.."

Just as I was about to whisper into Adrian's ear to compel him a twenty something Moroi guy, dressed in a spiffy black suit and red tie walked out from the club and talked to one of the guards.

Well apparently I was going to have to bypass the guard and jump straight to the big man on campus. "Excuse me..."

"Elliot?" Adrian asked.

The Moroi guy turned to face us. He had short black hair slightly spiked up with the brightest baby blue eyes I had ever seen. He was attractive, extremely so and by the well polished appearance he knew it too.

"Adrian Ivashkov." Elliot stepped towards us and grinned, "Man it's been a long time." He leaned over the velvet rope keeping us at bay and patted Adrian's shoulder. "What are you doing in Missouri?"

Adrian grinned, "Visiting the girlfriend." His hand pulled away from the small of my back for a second as he reached down cupped my ass and then slapped it before putting it back in its original position.

Elliot turned and regarded me for the first time. His eyes widened and his mouth parted as he licked his lips. "The girlfriend huh? I hope your not exclusive..." He grinned down at me, extending his hand as his eyes travelled down my curves. "I'm Elliot Bermaunt and you are far too delectable for your own good."

"We're definitely not exclusive." Returning his look and unearthed the man eater smile I had once been known for. "I'm Rose..." I paused briefly, "Ozera... this is brother my Christian." I nodded to my left where Christian stood. I didn't want to give him my last name, the Hathaway name was kind of well known in within the Moroi community mostly due to my mother, partly due to my escapades. And if he was on Victor's payroll, I didn't want him running off and telling the others we were here. He took my hand in his, grasped slightly before leaning down to plant a kiss on it without breaking eye contact.

"Well Rose Ozera," He grinned and stepped back from the velvet rope. "If you promise to save me a dance later, I'll let you down the rabbit hole." He joked, referring to me as Alice in Wonderland.

"Just one?" A smirk played at my lips, sure I had been out of practice for a while but I could still turn on the charm when I needed to. Just as he unclipped the velvet rope to let us pass the cell phone buzzed against my leg. I pulled it out and passed the velvet rope, looking up at Elliot with what I considered dreamy clouded eyes. Flipping the cell phone I open, I quickly spoke into it. "Hey babe, we're at The Chosen Ones just off of Bond Street." I spoke quickly, not giving Dimitri the chance to speak. "I've gotta go, Elliot Bermaunt is an old friend of Adrian's and he's letting bypass the line..I know awesome right, speak soon." I felt stupid playing the ditzy, girlie card but it was to keep up appearances. I closed the cell phone and placed it back inside of my jean pocket. "She's such a talker, best to keep the convo short." I said to Elliot before slipping inside of the club, with Adrian right behind me, his hand still on the small of my back.

"You guys want a drink?" Elliot followed us in and stepped around the three of us.

"Sure, why don't you go and help him... hun." I cringed on the inside as I spoke to Adrian, it wasn't in my nature to play the lovey dovey dopey teenage girl. I was more into physical combat, sexual filled tension and a hell of alot of angst.

Adrian leaned down and planted a soft, sensual kiss on my lips before leaning to whisper in my ear. "Just playing the part."

"Uh huh," I smiled at Elliot and whispered into the nook of his neck. "You're gonna pay for it later." I threatened.

I waved as the two of them stepped towards the bar. As soon as their backs were turned I rolled my eyes, dropped the hand and looked up at Christian. "Ready to go hunting?"

"I'm feeling nauseated from that performance.." Christian's facial expression was a canvas for his disapproving face.

"Well bottle it, let's go get your girlfriend..."

--

"You know he was enjoying that." Christian hadn't stopped talking about Adrian and me since we had left the club floor and made our way backstage. Luckily the back of the club didn't match the front, it was glamourous backstage, paint was falling off of the walls and ceilings, there were no hi-tech security cameras. Apparently the relied on the security the humans were providing which was, well considering this was apparently a Moroi run business... it was plain, ol' stupid. "I mean you could have played it down a little," He continued.

"Christian..." I paused in the hallway.

"What is it?" He stopped and regarded me carefully. "What's wrong?" His voice was laced with panic, maybe he thought I was experiencing one of my 'episodes' where I slipped into Lissa's mind.

But I wasn't. Something wasn't wrong. A pain shot through me but it wasn't from the bond, it was something different. I looked down at my abdomen but there was nothing there. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.

"Rose what's"

Before he could finish, I opened my eyes and threw myself towards him. My hands pressed against his chest and I knocked him down to the floor just before spinning on my left foot to round house the person coming up behind me. Only it wasn't a person.

It wasn't a Human.

It wasn't a Moroi.

It was a Strigoi.

* * *

_Apologies for the many and by many I mean, billions of mistakes in this chapter. It was written at three o'clock on the morning with drooping eyelids and a very tired brain. _


	19. Chapter 19

Before I could think or react, the burly Strigoi advanced upon me at the ridiculous speed they were capable of. I threw myself against the tight corridor wall and threw my right elbow out and up behind me as the Strigoi stopped behind me, clocking him right in the jaw. Without hesitation, my right hand clenched into a tight, hard fist and I spun in my sneakers throwing a right hook at his face hoping to catch him off guard. Hoping and not succeeding. He grabbed ahold of my wrist and tightened his grip as his blood thirsty eyes worked their way up my form before resting on the part of my neck which was visible.

"Keep dreaming cowboy.." I pushed my body away from the wall with all the strength I could muster and threw myself into him, which probably wasn't the wisest tactical move but it was the one that came to mind. His body hit the wall but the sound of the impact was drowned out by the club's music. I pulled my wrist from his iron clad grip and took a step back before throwing my body into his once again, only this time I pulled the stake from the back of my jean pocket and stabbed him in the abdomen with it, having to use a lot of force to push past the layers of flesh his body used as a shell. He screamed out in pain.

"Ok... now we're gonna do this my way." I twisted the silver stake in his gut so that he could truly feel how serious my intentions were. "Is that understood?"

He bit down on his bottom lip to stop himself from crying out again and nodded once to show that we had an understanding.

"Where's Lissa?"

The Strigoi's brow furrowed with ignorance.

"The blonde you've been keeping in the basement the past couple of days," I sighed getting easily frustrated with his lack of co-operation. I quickly pulled the stake out from his gut and watched as his body convulsed and his breathing quickened as his body rapidly began to recover from the wound. My grip tightened on the stake as I moved the stake three inches up and stabbed him again, ripping through the layers of flesh and blood. He cried out louder than before. "You don't seem to understand how this works... you talk, my friend the silver stake stays back... you don't talk and I keep stabbing you until I hit something which will make you non existent, comprendi?"

"They took her.. twenty minutes ago." His breathing was labored and his chest was heaving as he was trying to control the pain that the silver stake was causing.

"Where?"

"The Dashkov compound."

My eyes widened in response and my grip on the stake loosened ever so slightly which was enough of a distraction apparently. The Strigoi grabbed a hold of my wrist and pulled the stake out from his body before knocking my hand with such a force that it caused me to completely lose my grip on the stake. The silver stake dropped to the floor just as Christian jumped up to his feet.

"Rose stand back..."

"Christian don't..."

But he didn't listen. A wicked grin touched his lips as he did a one figure salute to the Strigoi before unleashing a set of deadly flames onto the unsuspecting Strigoi. The Strigoi threw himself onto the floor and began to roll around, trying to put on the flames. The fire alarm sounded followed by the sprinklers being activated.

"Opps." Christian frowned.

The sprinklers began to put the flames out on the Strigoi who stopped struggling on the floor, it was only a matter of minutes before he started to regain his strength. I swooped down and picked the stake up before slamming it hard just below his rib cage, before thrusting it up at an angle hitting my desired spot; his heart. His body went limp as the life drained out of him.

I dropped the stake, sat down on the wet floor and ran my hands through my damp hair. I closed my eyes and took in a several deep breaths. It was never easy taking a life especially knowing that the majority of Strigoi were once Moroi or Dhamphirs, turned Strigoi against their will.

"You ok?" Christian went down on one knee beside me and touched the bottom of my chin, causing me to open my eyes. "Rose... you ok?"

I looked down at his hand and then up into his eyes. We had never really been so close to one another before, I had never seen how bright his light blue eyes were from up close...well I had but it had always been from Lissa's perception. I raised a brow, "I'm fine.. or I will be when you take your hand off of me."

He pulled his hand back and grinned, "Always the bitch, never the victim."

"Always the ass.. no that's it!" I grinned at my own retort. I pressed my palms down against the wet tiled floor and pushed myself up. Bending down I picked the stake up and tucked it down the back of my jeans again.

"Wonder where lover boy is, I'm surprised he hasn't charged in here to protect you.. oh wait, I forgot this is Adrian Ivashkov we're talking about." Christian grinned at his own little quip knowing full well that his snide comment wouldn't effect me in the slightest but getting in a quick verbal jab at who he on occasion thought was his competition for Lissa's affection.

"He's probably passed out drunk in the club and hasn't even realized that the fire alarm went off." I joked just as the door connecting the corridor we were in to the club swung open with such a force that had me jumping back and standing in an offensive position.

"Hathaway..."

Loosening my tight position I walked forward as Guardian Davies, Dimitri and Tasha Ozera walked into the corridor, each looking around and assessing the situation. Tasha walked up to Christian and took ahold of his face in her hands, examining him.

"Your bleeding.."

I turned my head and looked back at Christian who did have a small cut above his right eye, it was hardly gushing with blood, it was barely even a wound... but it was still a wound, one that I had caused. My face flushed as I turned back and looked up at Dimitri as he approached me and Davies approached the lifeless Strigoi body on the floor.

As Dimitri opened his mouth to speak, Davies interrupted him. "Report Hathaway..."

My eyes met Dimitri's as I spoke, "We found the club decided to check it out as I figured we could be more inconspicuous than you. Adrian knew someone on the door, so we were able to get in without waiting.. Christian and I decided to haul ass to the basement to see if Lissa was there and that's when we encountered Hercules there.." I turned and looked over my shoulder at the dead Strigoi. "We fought, I questioned, he died... that's pretty much the gist." I decided to leave out the fact that I had technically tortured him first so that he would give up information..

"And where's Ivashkov?" Davies asked.

"The fire alarm went off when he was inside the main club area, so I presume he's freezing his ass off outside with his buddy." Davies nodded, and stood up from examining the dead Strigoi.

"I'm gonna go find boy wonder and then we're off."

"Don't you wanna know, if I got anything out of him before he met his demise?" I asked sarcastically, slightly offended that Davies had assumed that my questioning had gotten us nothing. He raised his hands waiting for me to continue. "Victor and his band of merry men skipped out of the club about twenty five minutes ago.. they're taking Lissa to Victor's compound."

"Good job, Hathaway!" Davies tapped my shoulder twice as he passed us. Tasha and Christian followed him out of the corridor.

I went to move past Dimitri to follow too, but he stepped in my way. I tried to side step again, not meeting his eyes but it was a little hard to side step a lean, muscular six foot seven kick ass guardian. "What?" I looked up and finally met his dark troubled gaze.

"I told you to stay outside and work surveillance until we got here.." His tone was disparaging and he shook his head. "Why can't you ever just do as I say?" He asked, clearly frustrated.

My eyes widened a little with shock, it was next to impossible to frustrate Dimitri. His usual cool demure was a hard facade to break through but apparently I had a knack for it. "Because if I did, then we'd always be waiting...in more ways than one." I sighed and raised my hand in the air, to stop him from spewing something about he only makes me wait because he's looking out for me, or something just as wise. "I know.. you only do it because.."

Dimitri's eyes moved to my wrist and he took it in his hand ever so gently. He moved his eyes back up to meet mine and his gaze seemed troubled again.

"Apparently he followed my same philosophy... no doesn't always mean no." I joked, but watched as Dimitri caressed the reddened marks around my wrist with his soft touch. I swallowed some air as his touch set shivers down my spine, the good kind of shivers that caused the butterflies in my stomach to go crazy too.

Busted.

Someone cleared their throat to alert Dimitri and I to their presence. I turned and peered past Dimitri to see Christian standing in the doorway, with his brow raised. "Sorry to interrupt..." His tone was filled with disapproval, crap - completely and utterly busted. "Just thought you should probably know, Guardian Davies can't find Adrian or his friend anywhere outside..."

"What?... Then where the hell is he?" I asked, bewildered.

"I imagine he's on his way to Victor's compound." Dimitri said as he finally turned and met Christian's gaze.

"Well that's just great." The sarcasm dripped heavily off of my voice. It was now a rescue mission for Lissa and Adrian.

--

We were on a highway heading out of the city limits, I figured we were most likely heading back to the academy so that they could consult with higher ups now that we knew were Victor was taking Lissa. I would have asked, but Dimitri, Tasha and Davies were sat up front in the mini van having their own little adult conversation which excluded me.

"What the hell was that back at the club?" Christian whispered into my ear.

I turned and glared at him, nudging him with a hard elbow to the side. We were in a seven seater van with two dhamphirs and a moroi, all of whom were hardly hard of hearing. "Mind your business." I warned him as I sat further back in the chair and folded my arms across my chest. This is just what I needed, Christian to be questioning my ... more than teacher/student relationship with Dimitri.

"No." Christian spoke defiantly against my words. "Have you actually lost your mind? Are you seriously trying to hit on a..." He looked out of the corner of his eyes and then back to me. "On someone who isn't available to you."

I turned and leaned in closer to him, once again having an opportunity to stare into his lighter than the ocean blue eyes. "Leave it alone... I mean it or I'll break your face." I smiled sweetly and turned my head to face the window, watching as we passed tree after tree, after tree.

"You'll get kicked out if they find out.." He paused and he shook his head. "God.. how long has it been going on?"

"Has what been going on?" I asked, feigning ignorance.

"The two of you.."

"There's nothing going on.." I lied, trying to cover myself. "It's just a crush."

"Oh come on... who do you think your talking to?" Christian shook his head and leaned in closer. "I'm Lissa, you can't fool me by pretending to like Adrian."

"I do like Adrian..." Just not in the same way he likes me, I added silently. Okay.. well maybe every so slightly. We had a connection, one that didn't even compare to the one Dimitri and I shared but there was definitely a connection there.

"Right..." Christian didn't sound convinced. "What do you thinks gonna happen, Rose? You think your gonna ride off into the sunset with him and live happily ever after?" His snarky and know it all tone was the final straw, I snapped.

"Christian leave it alone" I yelled, which had Dimitri and Tasha turning their heads to look back at us while Davies regarded me in his rear view mirror. I glared at Tasha and frowned, "Would you please remove your nephew from my presence before I decide to test out my ass whooping abilities."

"Rose..." Dimitri warned.

"What's going on?" Tasha asked in a concerned voice.

"Why don't you ask, Rose?" Christian added sulkily.

"Why don't you mind your own business." I turned and glared at him. He turned and met my icy glare with one to match. I stood up from the seat and climbed over him, making sure that I nudged him into the contours of his seat as I went past. I lent forward and leaned against Tasha's seat, looking at both Dimitri and Davies. "Are we going back to the academy?"  
"Yes." Dimitri said, matter of factly.

"Fine.. then pull over."

"What?" Davies raised his brow in the mirror at me, confused while Dimitri stared at me with a masked expression.

"Pull over. I'm not going back to that school unless Lissa is with me."

"And what are you going to do? Storm the compound?" Davies asked sarcastically. "Victor Dashkov obviously has influential friends, ones that helped him escape one of the most guarded and fiercely magically protected prisons in the world... and you think you can just what? Sneak in, save your little friend and save the day?"

"Pretty much... except I wont be sneaking in, I'll be ringing the doorbell." I said seriously. I knew that there was no way that I would be able to break into Victor's compound without being detected.. and neither could anyone else. The man had decades of experience with casting spells, making influential friends and being an all round pain in the ass.

"You can't be serious..." Davies laughed out loud at my plan. "And what's gonna happen next?"

"I don't know, but I'll be inside his compound and with Lissa..where will you be? Oh that's right, on the outside looking in, twiddling your thumbs and waiting around like little lost lambs."

"Your not going to Victor's compound." Dimitri said finally, weighing in. He had the whole no nonsense tone going on which meant that I could argue with him as much as I'd like but it was pointless.

"You can't stop me."

"I can.. and I will. The plan is foolish. You won't make it past the front door, they'll kill you as soon as they see you." His eyes were blazing with an intensity that I hadn't seen before.

"Or maybe they won't..." Tasha chimed in. "I'm not saying I agree with Rose's plan, it's thoughtless..." She turned and peered at me with apologetic eyes. "But the method... she's Lissa's best friend, and Victor knows of her impulsive nature..." Tasha smirked as plan was obviously forming in her mind, I however, was feeling a little beyond insulted by her words. "They won't suspect a ruse...but we still need supplies and one hell of a magic wielder."

"So?" I asked confused... "Your gonna use me as bait?"

"No." Dimitri said.

"Yes..." Tasha nodded and raised her brow at Dimitri's hardheadedness.

--

When we arrived back at the academy Tasha whisked Christian off to the clinic to get checked out to make sure that he hadn't fractured anything, Davies had hustled on over to Kirova's office to inform her of the situation and then contact the Queen to see what course of action she wanted to follow now that her favourite nephew had been abducted, I was warned not to leave the school and to go and rest for as long as possible because of what I was about to endure and Dimitri.... well, like a child who doesn't get what the way, he stomped and huffed his way back to his room as he was no longer on duty.

"Don't worry about him... he'll come around when he realises that it's the right thing to do." Tasha said before she left with Christian. She thought Dimitri's moodiness was due to the fact that Lissa, his charge had once again escaped his grasp.. and in a way I'm sure that definitely played a part in his unusual melodramatic mood swing, but I was pretty sure that it was the fact I was being prepped to skip off into a battle that he didn't think I could win.

I went back to my room and had a quick hot shower to loosen the knots that were beginning to form in my back from today's little encounter and changed into a pair of comfy straight legged blue denim jeans and the grey and blue stripped abercrombie and fitch v-neck sweater Lissa had bought me for my birthday last year. Surely it would seem like an impulsive outfit, when I skipped on over to Victor's place to stage a ruse? I turned and looked at my bed, contemplating getting in a quick nap to re-energize myself before I faced.. god knows what, but instead I did what I probably shouldn't have.

Three taps at the door was how long it took him to open his door. He too had changed out of the clothes he had been wearing earlier, and was now dressed in a pair of black sweats and a black t-shirt that clung to the contours of his biceps ridiculously. His longish black hair was wet and pulled back behind his head. He side stepped and allowed me inside, without questions.

I walked in and quickly examined his room. It looked identical to the last time I had been in here, tidy, the lamp on the bedside table on, bed sheets slightly ruffled.

"Any word yet?" I asked turning to look up at him, making idle chit chat to cover my nervousness about being here.

"We're leaving at dawn, Tasha's found someone who can make up some charms to break down any magical defenses surrounding Victor's compound and a charm to keep you protected..." He paused, "To a point.."

"So I won't be an unstoppable force of nature?" I joked, trying to lighten the thick tension in the air.

"You are an unstoppable force of nature.." He sighed quietly to himself.

"But you dont want me to go." It wasn't a question, it was a fact. "And that's what I don't get..." I paused trying to word it correctly. "You do realise you've been training me for this kind of situation right? One day.. in the not too distant future they're gonna do the unthinkable and hand me my diploma that says I'm a badass, newly qualified guardian..."

He sighed. "I know..."

"Then what's the problem? You don't think I can take care of myself?" I asked, the hint of doubt leaking into me.

"No... I know you can take care of yourself.." He paused and sighed, taking a step closer to me, regarding me seriously. He reached up with his hands and cupped my face. "I don't want to lose you, ever."

"I'm a kick ass novice, remember" I joked, trying to slow my heartbeat down to what I considered was a reasonable pace. "Just like my mentor..."

Dimitri leaned down and kissed me with such an intensity that had me gasping for air. His hands moved from my face, tracing down my sides until his hands rested on my hips as he pulled my body into his. I moaned from the impact and from the intense kisses he was bestowing me with and then gasped into his mouth as his hands moved from my hips and cupped me from behind, lifting me up from the floor in one big swoop.. ala Scarlet O'Hara style and carried me to his bed.

This was it... Oh god...

* * *

_Author's Note: Big apologies if anyone is still reading this for the ... um, delayed chapter. I've been having trouble finding inspiration for this story and where to take it. I've had an outline for this chapter for quite some time but scrapped it completely today when the mood struck.. so, apologies as always for bad grammar, spelling and so forth.. but I hope you enjoyed.. and I hope my inspiration for this story is back =)_


	20. Chapter 20

His hands reached up to touch my shoulder, lightly caressing it as he leaned down from his six foot seven frame to kiss me. As we break apart to catch some air, I can't help but look up into his soulful dark eyes and lose myself in them. A smile perked on my lips all too ready to embrace his again. He leaned down again and kissed me softly while his hands shape the base of my neck, his touch more of a massage than a soft caress working out the rest of the knots. A soft moan escaped my lips as his his hands and his mouth washes away everything else but him. The bed creaked as I moved onto my knees without breaking the kiss to shorten the distance between us. I moved my lips from his mouth, kissing the corners of his lips and start to make a trail until my lips lightly brush against his neck. I took in a deep breath, smelling him into me. "I love you," I whispered against his neck completely lost in the moment, lost in him.

"You are mine. I love you Roza." And with that his soft hands, remarkable really considering the years of turbulent abuse they had subjected to were no longer soft or light. The mood had changed with our words, his hunger for me had grown as his caresses had become tighter and his kisses more passionate. He took ahold of my hands and pinned me down against the bed, taking control. My own insatiable need for him caused my usual fighting instincts to lay low, this was one time I definitely didn't want to battle him for power. I was more than willing to be his student again. A soft moan escaped my lips as his hands moved down my bare naked arms and crossed over my taut stomach moving their way down...

"Ooouch" A loud screech escaped my lips as I opened my eyes and stepped away from the now scorching hot spray emitting from the shower. My breath hitched trying to recover from both the memory of being with Dimitri and the roasting hot wake up call. A deep sighed escaped my lips as I stepped out of the shower, wishing that I could relive last night over and over again, with Dimitri. Walking across the the bathroom, I grabbed a towel from the towel rack, wrapped it around my body and fitted it with a knot to stay in place. Reaching across the sink, I wiped my hand across the mirror several times until I could see my reflection clearly. Last night had essentially been the turning point with him, there was no going back now. Not that I wanted to.

"Rose.." Her voice called out to me and with that a sudden rush of emotion enveloped me. My hands clenched onto the edge of the sink for support as I was overpowered and pushed out of my own body.

"JUST DO IT!" His breath was hot and heavy against her ear, he was so close she could smell the perspiration leaking from his pores. His proximity and loud voice would have normally been enough to make her shake with fear but he held something sharp against her captured wrists and slowly cut away at her pale skin. "NOW!"

"I can't" Lissa's voice shook as she cried out from the pain. "Please stop." She wailed, trying to hold onto the tiniest of hope that I or someone would come bursting through the large marble doors and save her. "Please stop.." She whimpered as the tears ran freely down the side of her face, leaving a wet trail down her cheeks.

"Yes you can," His volume may have eased but his voice was still menacing. "And if you don't, I'll move pretty boy over here so that when I slit his throat his Royal blood will wash over you and that'll be on you princess."

Lissa's water filled eyes cleared as she blinked and looked up across the room. There sitting less than twenty feet away was Adrian, who like her was bound by his feet and hands. His usually pretty face was already stained with blood, his left eye half closed no doubt due to a beating he hand be subjected to. "I'm sorry.." Lissa whispered to him but her voice didn't carry that far. She was too distraught. "I can't."

"Bring him over here," The Moroi man called over and suddenly within the blink of an eye Adrian had been dragged across the stone cobbled floor and was sitting directly in front of Lissa, still completely bound. The blond Moroi turned back and looked down at Lissa, his eyes baby blues framed by a perfect set of dark lashes were hard and cold like ice. "Then this is on you."

"No!" I cried out. Lissa shook in her seat as my voice echoed through her head.

"Rose?" She asked aloud, unable to filter her thoughts from her mouth. She was completely exhausted, torn and beaten. Her tired mind opened as much as it could to me and she welcomed me in, all too easily. I felt the power shift between the of us as she struggled against her restraints and touched Adrian's fingers with her own. And with that touch, I felt the darkness completely engulf me. Her own body awoke with the power and she began to physically heal both herself and Adrian, at my expense.

"He will be pleased." The blonde wannabe Tom Cruise standing at her side laughed and began to walk away from Lissa who was still healing herself.

"Lissa" Adrian's voice cracked and blood splattered from his mouth, his wounds were healing but it wouldn't make the blood that had already been tortured out of him disappear.

"You just made the biggest mistake of your life."

The blonde Moroi turned and walked back over to him, bending down so that the two of them were on the same eye line. "And why's that, princess?" He asked, mocking her.

"Because I'm going to rip out your jugular and spit on your dying corpse." Lissa blinked back in her chair stunned from the words that had just escaped her lips, because they hadn't been her words. They had been mine.

I fumbled my way down the corridor still dressing myself as I hurried to meet the others. Thanks to my little blood bonding session with Lissa I was sporting a badass headache that wouldn't quit, darker than normal eyes and a busted lip thanks to a little encounter I had with the bathroom sink. And this was only the start of my day, I sighed as my half ran down to the gymnasium where I was meeting with the others. Pushing through the double doors, I walked in just as I buckled the belt on my jeans. All eyes turned and were on me. "Sorry I'm late.. I ugh, had a bit of trouble with a sink." I joked as I walked further into the gym.

They were gathered in a little circle no doubt going over the brilliance of a Tasha Ozera plan, I thought bitterly to myself as I noticed she was standing a little too close to Dimitri. "Jesus, Hathaway." Davies was the first one to speak, his eyes scanned my appearance and he shook his head. "You look like you lost the fight with the sink."

"Bite me." My tone was snarky to match my mood. I wasn't in the mood to say my P's and Q's, let alone kiss the ass of an instructor.

"Watch it, Hathaway." Davies warned. "We're still on school grounds and I'm still your instructor."

Your still an ass, I thought to myself but bit my tongue. I looked down at the mat beneath our feet where a bunch of crystal styled jewelry was laid out. "So, this is the genius plan? I storm the compound wearing a bunch of charms which will undoubtedly be removed from my possession as soon I step foot onto the Dashkov compound and then what, I'm left with my killer right hook and Hathaway wit?" I looked up from the floor and met disapproving eyes from every which way. "What? I'm just stating the obvious."

"No, your just being a bitch." Christian butted in. He sighed and folded his arms across his chest in order to appear more manly, no doubt but he just looked like a tiny Moroi next to the two male guardians standing either side of him.

"I'm sorry this here is for the grown ups who can pack a punch, why don't you go back and sit at the kiddies table. Once this is all over and Lissa is back where she belongs, I'll let you know. Until then why don't you go and make yourself useful... singe a marshmallow or something." I nudged him aside with my elbow and shoulder, making more room for myself within the circle and completely blocking him out.

As soon as his hand touched my shoulder I felt a twinge of hotness burning through my hooded sweatshirt, I turned slightly and clenched my fist. As I extended my elbow to follow through with the punch, I felt Davies hand grip my bicep holding it back. Fight or flight, out of instinct I turned in my sneakers clenched my other hand tightly and threw a punch at him. Only this time no one held me back and my fist impacted against his face, knocking him off balance and throwing him back a couple of feet.

"What the f--" Davies looked at me stunned.

"Rose?" Dimitri's soft voice called out to me. I was expecting mentor tone to kick in, a harsh telling off for striking an instructor but it he called out to me, asking not telling.

I looked up at him and then over to Davies and took in a deep breath. I had just knocked a well muscled, stronger and more experienced Guardian back more than what was possibly, or at least possible for a dhamphir novice. My eyes glanced down and I looked at my hands which were still clenched tightly together, ready for another attack. The darkness inside me had never manifested itself so physically. Sure I had felt the occasionally twang of pain when Lissa did and of course the murderous headaches but nothing that made me seem like I was cracked out on steroids for the already enhanced. "It's nothing.." I lied, trying no to let the darkness completely swallow me.

"Nothing?" Christian spat back, unwise really considering he was still standing too close and he hand almost burnt my hoodie. "You just ripped out and went all incredible hulk on Davies," He said mirroring my own ignorance for formalities of name calling. "That's not nothing."

I turned and looked over my shoulder and raised my brow, "Aww, careful Christian your emotions are showing and it seems like you care." My snarky attitude was apparently here to stay. "Look, let's just get this over with and we'll deal with moody broody teenage hormones later, ok?" I bent down and picked up several pieces of the jewelry. "Just tell me what they do and I'll be on my way."

"Your not going alone." Tasha said eyeing me cautiously. "It doesn't work like that. These charms are designed to get you past any magical forces that are trying to keep you out. Once your past their defense system, you'll need as much muscle as you can and that's where we come in." She was the only one looking at me like I wasn't a freak of nature for my little outbursts, but then maybe it was because she had sympathy for freaks of natures considering she never really fitted in anywhere. "Right, Dimka?" Except with Dimitri.

Damn and I was just beginning to warm to her. "Look I know you've got that whole fire thing down but eventually fires burn out." Snippy attitude, check. Condescending tone, check. "With that much power, you'll stop being any use within minutes. So then it's all down to brute force, which is where... we" I pointed around to Davies and then to Dimitri, "Good ol' Davies and little Dimka come in."

Tasha threw her hands on her hips and sighed, tired. "Ok, I get it. Your best friend and your boyfriend have been kidnapped and you've got this whole, I hate the world routine going on. I get it I do, I was a teenager once upon a time. I've been through battles.. obviously" She said referring to her mangled face. "And you usually seem like a nice enough girl, but cut the crap Rose. You need me, I don't have to be here but I am. Because I want to be. I want to help." She paused and looked across at me, "So let me help you."

I was about to scoff that she couldn't help me but once again I felt a hand grip my bicep, only this time it wasn't Davies who had taken ahold of me. It was Dimitri. He looked at the others, "Outside Rose." He wasn't asking this time, he dragged me forcefully across the gymnasium floor and out of the door. Once we were outside his grip tightened on my arm, pushing me close to the wall and trapping me with his presence. He let go of my arm and looked down into my eyes. "Control it..."

My eyes rolled at him and I made a move to push past him but his hand shot out quickly against the wall, stopping me. I turned and looked back up at him. "Aww, not so touchy feely with me today, huh Comrade?" Leaning back against the wall, I threw my shoulders against it and extended my chest pouting. "You want me to control myself? Maybe you should follow what you preach, cause last night you certainly didn't control _your _self. Now move out of my way." I turned and waited for him to move his arm but he didn't.

His body moved closer to mine, so close that his aftershave washed over me. "I don't know what happened Roza, but I know you can control this..." He whispered into my ear, causing the hairs on the back of my neck to stand up.

My face turned to him so that we were merely inches apart. "I don't want to control it," I said a former part of myself surfacing. The darkness was still in the drivers seat but I wanted it to be. "You saw what I did in there, I need that strength if I'm going to save Lissa."

"You have me." He said simply.

"It's not enough." I sighed and pushed past his arm and made my way back inside of the gymnasium. I stopped at the doors at looked at the three of them. "Get your bags, we're leaving. Now."

It was a two hour drive to the Dashkov residence. The plan was to park in the woods just on the outskirts of the compound and to hike our way to the east entrance, where with charms permitting we would disable the magical security setup and then take out any and all guards on patrol. Tasha and Christian would turn on their Carrie at the prom abilities, Dimitri and Davies would use their years of Guardian training to engage any hostiles in hand to hand combat while I would skip up the house and ring the doorbell. Okay, maybe that wasn't entirely the plan. Dimitri had given me strict orders to do surveillance on the house and wait for them before doing anything "Rose like." God knows what he meant by that, I had been a model pupil.

"Hey." Christian moved from his seat in the van to sit beside me. I had purposely sat at the back of the van away from the others for peace and quiet and here he was annoying me. The others were busy talking away in the front, strategizing coming up with contingency plans.

"What do you want, Christian?" I asked tiredly.

"I wanna know what's going on and don't give me that whole teenage mood swings crap and don't tell say it's nothing."

"Maybe I'm just a bitch, did you ever think of that?" I raised my brow and smirked at him.

"No, I know that." He returned my grin and shook his head. "And usually your bitchiness is kind of endearing but its more than that." He paused and glanced down at the others in front of the van before turning back to look at me. He moved closer so that we were almost in each others faces. "You can talk to me."

I was tired. Maybe it was from the lack of sleep from having lost my virginity the previous night or maybe it was from my little one on one session with Lissa, but I was just mentally exhausted. Physically I felt fine and ready to go, but my mind felt too heavily weighed down. "I couldn't stop myself earlier.." I paused trying to find the wording. "The pull she had on me was too much. I felt everything she did through the bond, like normal. She was so scared and in so much pain, Christian." My fingers played around with the edge of the sleeves as I talked, "Hours of being mentally and physically tortured, she was completely drained." I looked up, glanced down at the others who were still talking amongst themselves and then turned back and looked down at my arms. I pulled the hoodie's arms up, exposing my slashed wrists. They were no longer bleeding but they were fresh wounds, they had been Lissa's and now they were mine.

"What the hell?" Christian took ahold of my wrists in his hands and examined them.

I pulled the sleeves quickly down to stop anyone else from seeing. "Usually its headaches now it's becoming more than that.." I frowned.

"You shouldn't be here, Rose." He vocalized his concerns and I noticed he was still holding onto my wrists. "If they knew this..." Christian said referring to my physical pain, "They wouldn't let you be here."

"Exactly." I shrugged, "You saw what I did to Davies earlier. I can use it to my own advantage."

"But at what cost?" He retorted.

The van came to a stop. Davies and Tasha stepped out of the van but Dimitri turned to look back at us before following them.

"I guess we'll find out." I said, patting his shoulder. It was time for some of the usual Hathaway bravado, even if it was faked. "Don't look so grim, flame boy.. we're here to save your girlfriend." I stood up as much as I could in the van and scooted past his body, "Don't look at my ass." I said before stepping on his foot purposely.

"Are you guys ready?" Davies asked as Christian and I stepped out of the van.

"Is your face ugly?" I quipped quickly, "And in case you don't own a mirror, the answer to that would be yes." I sighed and turned my back on them to walk away. "So while you guys are doing the whole G. thing, I'll be doing surveillance... Yep got it."

Tasha and Davies walked off into the darkness, apparently it was a Moroi/Guardian partnership going on. Oh well, at least she wasn't with Dimitri, I suppose that was a plus. Christian walked back to the van, giving Dimitri and I a minute alone.

"Be careful and don't do anything..."

"Rose like?" I asked, finishing his sentence.

Dimitri nodded and leaned down closer to me, whispering. "I mean it.. I can't lose you." My breath caught in my throat from his admission. He turned on his heels and walked over to Christian and they too made their way into the darkness.

I was told to survey.

I was told to be the look out and to wait for them.

But let's be honest, no one bought that. I sighed and stepped up to the front gates of the compound. No need for any magic parlor tricks, no need to work out the old gymnastic bones and climb my way up and over the steel iron gate. A small figure approached me and through the darkness with my heightened senses, I recognised him. It was the blonde wannabe Tom Cruise who had subjected Lissa and Adrian to hours of torture and who had been the one to instigate Lissa into using her magic, the very magic that made me the tortured, brooding, super badass novice standing before him.

"We've been expecting you, Miss Hathaway." He nodded up the the security camera located on the top left hand wall next to the gate and just like that, the iron gates closed behind me. "Mr Dashkov is most eager to see you."

"How's that jugular?" I feigned nonchalance about his statement and retorted with my own quick wit, giving him an inkling that I was the one who in a few short hours would be ripping out his jugular, in some way. Due to my relationship with Lissa, I had figured that Victor would know that I would have tried a snatch and grab job with Lissa.. but that would have been done on the sly, the blonde Tom Cruise was acting like I had been expected to walk through the front gates all along.

Like it had all been planned.

Ok.. Time to panic.


	21. Chapter 21

When Lissa and I were thirteen her family had been invited to spend two weeks of the summer vacation at the Dashkov manor along with three other Royal Moroi families. Inviting an impure blood such as a dhamphir like me was unheard of and yet somehow I had managed to wrangle an invited to the elite get together. Lissa's puppy dog eyes, perfected pinch pout and begging had always been the key in getting her own way with her parents but I had my suspicions that they pitied me and my situation; my situation being a homeless dhamphir whose world renowned kick ass mother couldn't spare a few weeks out of her busy schedule to look after the child she brought into this world.

"Keep walking." The blonde Tom Cruise wannabe pushed on my shoulder with the palm of his hand almost knocking me off balance. A sighed escaped my lips as I steadied myself and went to take another step, but apparently he wasn't trying to illustrate a point he was trying to piss me off. He reached out with his hand again ready to give me another little what he probably would call a helpful nudge in the right direction but out of instinct and habit I reached over my shoulder with my hand, grabbed his wrist before his palm touched my shoulder and twisted his wrist causing a clean break. "Ouch.. what the f-"

I stopped in my tracks and turned to glance up at the fairly short blonde moroi. "Oops, sorry..." A smirk touched my lips as I uttered my insincere words. "I think I heard something break, you should get that checked." A forceful push on my back kept me from uttering another sarcastic comment his way or breaking any more bones. I sighed, contemplating my odds. Three moroi men, one now only working at half pace with a broken wrist and two guardians against lil old novice me, well in Spokane I'd had worse odds and somehow had managed to survive, barely. But then Lissa's life hadn't been on the line.

"As soon as he doesn't have any need for you," Blonde Tom Cruise opened his mouth again. "Your pretty little head will be in my hands and I'm going to break your neck."

"Might be a little hard if your missing a jugular and not to mention dead." I responded in true Hathaway wit. Sure I may have been down but I certainly wasn't out. Well not yet at least. "So what's the going rate for being a sell out these days?" I asked the former guardians behind me, wanting to distract myself from the fate that awaited me. "I'm just asking because I might be interested in joining for a pretty penny." I said trying to make small talk, I of course had no intention in joining the ranks of sell outs who like to kidnap and torture innocent people.

"Don't answer, she's just trying to bait you." One of the guardians responded to my little dig.

"What's the matter?" I asked confused, "Hearing that your selling out your own race and those whom you've sworn to protect hitting a little too close to home?" I continued striding forward nearing the parlor at the end of the hallway which was apparently our final destination. I didn't want to think about Lissa right now, I couldn't risk losing hold on my subconscious and sneaking into hers. I needed to be alert. "So what's the overall plan? You take me to Victor, he decides thats I'm too much of a pain in the ass to keep around so he drains the life from me and becomes Strigoi?" I turned and looked over my shoulder, looking specifically at the two former guardians. "Which one of you is gonna dispose of my body? Are you going to bury me? Burn me?" I shuddered at the words I was uttering. "Just to let you know, I don't have any religious beliefs.. I don't think I'll be welcome into the pearly white ...whatever gates. I don't believe in reincarnation, so this is it for me..wow.." I sighed dramatically. "Seventeen and I haven't even lived yet."

"Shut up!" One of the guardians demanded with an irritated voice. So maybe one of them did have a conscious.

"Ah, Rosemarie. It's nice to see some things never change."

I hadn't realized that we had come to the end of the hallway and entered the parlor. I had been far too busy trying to find some kind of reason with my captors. Turning my head, I looked across the overly furnished room and found myself face to face with the man who months earlier had forced his daughter to turn Strigoi and who had tried to kill my best friend because of his insecurity with morality. "Victor.." I eyed him cautiously, once upon a time I would have greeted him with much more respect. "Jail looks like it's been good to you." I said noting that the disease Lissa had cured him of hadn't returned, if anything he was glowing. Bastard. "Is it true what they say about inmates?"

Victor shook his head with amusement. "Fortunately no." He strode across the room and looked at the men behind me, nodding to them. "It's good to see you, my child." And then he leaned down and kissed me on the cheek.

"I think I just threw up in my mouth." I responded and pulled back from his touch, backing into the guardian behind me. A big part of me wanted to just strike out and go on the attack. I was inside the compound now, Victor was less than five feet away from me and the temptation to just reach out and wipe that smirk from his mouth was almost too much to resist. "I'm not into the whole sugar daddy thing." Tongue in cheek humour had always been my forte.

"That's not what I remember." Victor said without missing a beat, the smirk on his face widening. He was the only person that knew of the connection that Dimitri and I shared and that was in large part due to the magic pendant he had given me that caused both my and Dimitri's hidden desires to come out of hiding and apparently we both had desired the same thing; each other. "But dear sweet Rose..." He circled around me, causing the two guardians behind me to take two steps further back. "This is not the reason your here."

"No, I'm here because your a sadistic asshole who has kidnapped two people I care about." I responded cooly, trying to calm the darkness that was beginning to swirl deep inside of me. One of the side effects of the blood bond between Lissa and I; the usually incontrollable rage that consumed me. "So let's just cut the crap, shall we?"

Victor clapped in response. "Oh, I do love your candidacy. It's most refreshing in such a young soul." I crossed my arms over my chest and tapped my foot against the mahogany polished wooden floors and waited. "Charles would you be so kind and bring them up, I'm sure Rose would like to see her friends again." I turned and watched over my shoulder as the blonde Tom Cruise nodded and made a move to step outside of the parlor. "Oh and invite Travis inside won't you."

"That's a good lap dog, Charles." I spoke over my shoulder watching as he turned and snarled in my direction, baring his fangs. "If your a good boy, you might even get a treat." I cocked an eyebrow at him and then turned back to Victor. "Sorry about your little guard dog, he got a little mouthy on the way here.. he needed to be taught a lesson." I said referring to having snapped his wrist.

"It's of little consequence to me." Victor sighed and turned around walking across the room to a large arm chair. He turned and sat down, keeping his eye on me. "You however, Rose are of get importance." Victor spoke with such a musical chime to his tone, as though he were saying my name like a prayer. "You and Lissa of course. I'm so intrigued by the blood bond you share, so intrigued." He said his eyes turning going slightly hazy as his mind went elsewhere.

"GET OFF OF ME!"

I turned around and saw Lissa and Adrian walking towards me. Both of them hand their hands bound behind their backs and blind folds over their eyes. They were being guided to the parlor by Charles and another guardian I hadn't seen. So far by my count, if I was going to engage in battle it would be against three moroi and three guardians. Still not the worst odds. "Lissa!" I called out to her.

And then I felt it through the bond, it was so powerful that it almost knocked me off of my feet. For the better part of forty eight hours, fear had been coursing through her veins and yet something as simple as hearing me utter her name was enough to wash away the fear and replace it with relief. Completely and utterly idiotic really considering that she was still bound and we were all held captive. "Rose.. oh my god Rose" She cried out my name as Charles pulled the blind fold off of her eyes so she could see me with her own jade colored eyes. He cut the rope holding her wrists together and she didn't hesitate in running away from the man and towards me. She threw her arms around my neck and embraced me with such an iron clad hug that just a bit tighter and I would have trouble breathing.

I looked over her shoulder and watched as Adrian's rope and his blind fold were pulled away, freeing him. His usually bright dark jade eyes were tired but there was an obvious sparkle as he and I locked eyes. A small smile played at his lips as he walked over to us. "Always charging into battle, huh little dhamphir." It wasn't a question, more of an observation.

Lissa pulled back from my embrace and looked over her shoulder at Victor, who was watching the reunion between the three of us with bemused eyes. "You..." She frowned and took a step forward. "Why are you doing this to us?" I had to reach out and grab ahold of her arm to stop her from charging forward at him.

"Because you intrigue me. You both do." He sighed and leaned further back into his arm chair, now watching us curiously. "I thought that maybe you would be willing to experiment with your friend there." He said referring to Adrian, "But you struggled to find your power to heal him through the numerous beatings he suffered. I therefore figured that maybe with the right kind of encouragement you'd be more willing to experiment with your spirit ability."

"What the hell are you talking about old man?" I asked, confused as to his ramblings.

"She brought you back from the dead. She can cure the injured and the diseased." He said speaking directly at me. "There is so little known about this element and yet so much to be discovered." Victor stood up and stepped away from his chair towards us. Instinctively I stepped in between him and Lissa and took up a defensive stand. "And I'd like you to be the guinea pig."

"Over my dead body." Was all I could respond with.

"Exactly."

I cried out in pain and fell to the floor.

"Rose what's wrong?" Lissa bent down and looked at me, her eyes trying to find the cause of my pain.

"Get to the window... now." I said breathlessly. She knew me better than to question, she took a hold of Adrian's hand and pulled him towards the window. The three moroi and three guardians didn't approach them but rather walked across the room and took their stand in front of Victor, guarding him.

I looked up to the door and watched as a burly red eyed creature of the night walked into the room. Apparently he didn't need to scan the room for his victim, it had already been chosen for him.

He took in a deep breath, taking in the different scents of the room and smirked as he identified the one he needed. His blood red angry eyes found mine and then he smiled and then it hit me like a ton of bricks, not very subtle but very effective. There was no way out for me.

Tonight it would end.

* * *

_A/N: Not exactly a long chapter but hopefully still keeping you somewhat intrigued. All the reviews have been wonderful to read, I do enjoy reading the feedback. _


	22. Chapter 22

Within the blink of an eye I was back on my feet despite the gut wrenching pain that was being kicked back and forth across my abdomen as though it were a soccer field. A battle scream escaped my mouth and I charged the Strigoi standing in front of the door way. There was no time for hesitation, it was the most common reason why guardians failed against the undead; well second most common the fact that the Strigoi wield insane strength and speed was the most common. I felt Lissa's fear coarse through my veins as my body impacted against the Strigoi. It wasn't a graceful maneuver, heck it wasn't even a maneuver just a good old classic body bashing. Kind of pointless really, because it barely had an impact.

"So eager to die." The Strigoi leaned down and spat his words against my cheek, spraying me with his killer undead breath. He wrapped his arms around my body pulling it in close to his, his grip tightening harshly in an attempt to stop my struggle. "You smell delicious.." He decided to emphasize his words by skimming his nose along and up my cheek.

I threw my head back just as he pulled his nose from my cheek, catching him off guard. He lost his grip on me completely with the head butt giving me the chance to pivot slightly, throwing my elbow into the side of his face. "You smell like a rotting corpse." I said as I turned completely and followed up the elbow, aiming a right hook at his face. My knuckle caught only air as he moved at lightning speed to reposition himself behind me once more. "FYI... I'm not into the whole taking it from behind thing." I said, turning so that we were face to face but a little taken aback by the proximity with his face just inches from mine.

"Just do it!" Victor yelled across the parlor at the Strigoi. "Stop stalling and just finish it."

As I was about to make a sarcastic retort I felt the Strigoi's hands slip through my long dark raven locks and grip down firmly on them. He yanked twice to make sure he had a firm grip and then used it as a way to catapult me back against the bookcase behind him, turning my body in the process so that I went face first into multiple shelved case. My forehead and nose was the first parts to impact against the ancient wood. His hand twisted in my hair and he twisted my face, pulling it back briefly away from the bookcase and then slammed me back into it again causing the self to snap and books to fall to the floor. He loosened his grip completely on my hair and stepped back allowing me to fall freely on my own accord. I slithered down the bookcase and felt my ass hit the floor, my hands reaching up to hold onto one of the shelves to stop myself from losing my balance completely.

"Leave her alone.." Lissa screamed out as Adrian held her back against the window. Any emotions that had been seeping from her to me from our bond had completely ceased probably overpowered by the physical pain I was feeling. "Please stop..." Lissa looked across the room at Victor, who was still guarded closely by the three moroi and three guardians. "Take me instead." A hasty plea entered on her part, she was trying to save me but in doing so she would condemn herself and ultimately that would destroy me.

"No." Victor cried out. "We had an arrangement, Travis."

I looked up at the Strigoi and watched as his attention wavered from Lissa to me. Dhamphir blood was almost intoxicating for Moroi and the same could be said for Moroi blood to Strigoi. The struggle was evident on his face, the battle between the need to complete his so called agreement in killing me and the want to take Lissa for himself. I closed my eyes and suddenly I was reliving the scene earlier with Dimitri, outside of the gymnasium after my bust up with Davies.

_ I turned and looked back up at him. "Aww, not so touchy feely with me today, huh Comrade?" Leaning back against the wall, I threw my shoulders against it and extended my chest pouting. "You want me to control myself? Maybe you should follow what you preach, cause last night you certainly didn't control your self. Now move out of my way." I turned and waited for him to move his arm but he didn't. _

_ His body moved closer to mine, so close that his aftershave washed over me. "I don't know what happened Roza, but I know you can control this..." He whispered into my ear, causing the hairs on the back of my neck to stand up. _

_ My face turned to him so that we were merely inches apart. "I don't want to control it," I said a former part of myself surfacing. _

I gripped onto the bookshelf tightly and pulled myself up onto my knees. Reaching up to the next shelf, I pulled myself up even further to stand on my own feet. "Travis..." I called out to him, spitting blood from my mouth in doing so. He looked over his shoulder at me, a grin touching his lips as he took in my bloodied and disheveled appearance. "How are you at bowling?"

The question was enough to wipe the smirk from his mouth and let confusion cloud his face completely. I made my move, lunging away from the bookshelf counting on the darkness to consume me and it did. As soon as my hands touched his chest, a twinge of white hotness burnt through my skin and set me and my senses on fire. I pushed on his chest with the darkness engulfing me and watched happily as he was knocked back several feet, though unlike Davies he managed to keep his balance.

"Someone's had their wheeties.." Adrian commented under his breath.

No hesitation, I reminded myself. I lunged forward again throwing my entire body into his and knocking him back into Lissa and Adrian. The four of us went through the patterned window and fell a short distance onto the grass surrounding the house.

Adrian was the first to react, he reached across the darkened grass and pulled on Lissa's arm rolling her body closer to his, trying to get her out of harms way. I sighed and pressed the palm of my hands against the slightly damp grass, tucked my knees under my chest and pushed myself up off of the ground. I turned to look over my shoulder at Travis hoping to find him still writhing around on the floor but no such luck. He was standing directly behind me, a twisted grin playing at his lips. His hand wrapped tightly around my neck and he pulled on my body, pulling me closer to him.

"Victor was right about you," I could hear the smirk in his voice which only pissed me off even more. "You're feisty."

To prove his point, I threw my body back against his with all the strength I had and knocked him off his feet. We toppled and I fell on top of him, his hand moved from my neck and rested on my waist. A shiver went through my body as I felt his other hand slide up my leg to the other side of my waist. This was a joke right? We were fighting to the death and the undead guy was trying to cop a feel? I frowned and threw my head back, head butting him once again causing him to lose his grip on me. I threw my body off of his and rolled away to the side.

"Hathaway!" I looked up from the floor and watched as Davies and Tasha approached us from the darkness. Without warning a set of flames circled the Strigoi laying on the floor beside us. Adrian and Lissa were still laying on the floor, they hadn't moved throughout the commotion. I reached across and pulled on Lissa's arm, pulling her body on top of mine. I rolled us to the side, fronting my back as the wall between the flame and her. The screams from the Strigoi rang loudly through my ears.

"Rose move now..." Tasha's voice called out to me. I jumped to my feet and helped Lissa up from the floor and pulled her aside to where Adrian was now standing. Looking over my shoulder I watched as the bright red and orange flames completely swallowed the Strigoi. His screams became louder and I watched through the flames, his body convulsing erratically. Within seconds the screams along with any movement died out. But I was mesmerized by the burnt corpse that lay beneath my feet.

"What's wrong with your eyes?" The strong out pour of concern from Lissa seeped through our bond and suddenly I was no longer looking at the corpse but looking at myself through her eyes. I looked like I had just gone one on one with a Strigoi who had almost royally kicked my ass but despite my disheveled and bloody appearance the cause of her concern wasn't the free flowing blood from various different wounds but rather my coal black eyes.

"Stop." I sighed and was pulled instantly back into my own skin. I had never before had so much control over the bond; to be able to pull myself back from the clutch of Lissa's conscious at any time. "Just stop.." I whispered in a weak tone but feeling anything but. Turning to look over my shoulder at Davies and Tasha, "Get them back to the van." I ordered, ignoring the fact that technically Davies was still my mentor, in or out of school grounds.

"No," Lissa frowned determined. "I"m not leaving you again."

"I'm not arguing, Liss." I didn't need to look through her eyes to know that my eyes were still pitch black representing the darkness that had escaped me.

She was about to back down but thought better of it. Shaking her head like a petulant child, she folded her arms across her chest. "I'm staying with you, you need me." But what she really meant was that she needed me. "Besides, I can heal your wounds." Taking a step towards me, she went to rest her hand on my shoulder but I stepped back from her touch.

"Davies..." I looked past Lissa and nodded at him. He walked towards Lissa and before she could protest, he threw her over his shoulder like she weighed nothing at all.

Tasha walked the short distance separating us, stopping a foot away from me. She reached up and touched the side of my cheek with her hand, her eyes sad with emotion. "Your too young to bare the brunt of this anguish. Find a way to release it, Rose or you will forever be scarred." Tasha was the prime example of someone who had been scarred for life but through perseverance she had not let those scars define who she was. "Finally joining the party?" She looked up at the manor, a small smile playing at her lips.

I turned and there standing in front of the glass window I had dove out of with the Strigoi in a game of Moroi bowling was Dimitri, Christian and Victor who held his hands in front of him with a ring of fire circling his wrists, not quite touching his skin but close enough that his face was taut from the pain. Though his expression changed once his eyes assessed me, and that creepy older man smile was back in place. "Interesting.."

Dimitri patted his shoulder a little too hard and Victor stumbled and fell forward, face first out of the broken window and onto the grass below my feet. And despite the commotion the fire handcuffs circling his wrists didn't falter once. Dimitri jumped down from the manor, leaned down and picked the fallen prince up off the floor and stood him back up on his two feet. "Tasha, will you take him back to the van?"

Tasha nodded, "Sure Dimka." I winced on the inside at the sound of her pet nickname for him. "We shouldn't wait around too long, we don't know who or what else he has lurking in the shadows to protect him." Dimitri simply nodded and Tasha along with Christian and Victor began to walk away towards the forest where we had stored the van.

"You really shouldn't leave those two alone together, it's not exactly all professional with them." Victor said to Tasha as they walked away. My face burned red with embarrassment as Tasha turned to quickly glance over her shoulder at Dimitri and I before pushing on his back to urge Victor forward.

As soon as the three of them were out of earshot I decided to go on a little rant. "What is he, 12? It wasn't enough to kidnap my best friend, have one of his little Strigoi guard dogs try and kill me but he has to out us too, so fucking childish." I frowned and kicked at a stone on the floor.

"I'm not worried about that." Dimitri reached forward and cupped my chin, lifting my face so I would directly at me. "Roza..." Was all he said when he looked into my eyes. His concern for my well being was almost too much to bare, he could see into the darkness of my soul. And for once I didn't want him too. The darkness was already tainting my friendship with Lissa, I could feel the hostility towards her inside of me building up. I didn't and couldn't have that happen to my relationship with Dimitri, it was too precious to me.

"I'm not coming back with you..." I mumbled deciding right there and then my fate could no longer be intertwined with his.


	23. Chapter 23

23.

Control had never been my strong suit. Even back when I was the eager freshman eager to learn everything I could, my emotions would always get the better of me. When Lissa and I had escaped from the academy to seek refuge in the shadows away from those who wanted to hunt her, it was my lack of control that led to our downfall. Not being able to blend in, not being able to properly provide enough substance for Lissa to live on and not being able to control my emotions the night we were found. It was the classic case of flight or fight and I had chosen to fight... this time I would choose right.

My shoes crunched against the gravel as I made my way up Victor's driveway. Small droplets of rain washing away the dried blood on my face and the cool breeze cleaning out the smell of the fight from my body. The sound of gravel being punctured behind me was almost overbearing, he was following me. Not letting me go. Walking around the side of the manor, I found myself face to face with an extensive collection of cars sitting inside of an opened garage, it felt like they were waiting for me. A small smile touched my lips and a shallow sigh escaped my lips as I turned and braced myself for the final confrontation. "Go home Dimitri.."

He stopped ten feet away from me. His usual stoic face was nowhere to be found, he looked furious. "I'm not going anywhere." A frown touched Dimitri's brow and he shook his head with disbelief. "You're being rash, there's no need for .. this." He spread out his strong, ample arms and waved his hands in front of me. "For all of this. You're coming back to the academy." As he took a step towards me, I took a step back.

"No, I'm not." The sadness took my tone. This had been the inevitable. "You can't see it because your too close to it..." I paused and decided on my words carefully, "Too close to me." Once we had engaged in a conversation about what would happen if we were both charged as Lissa's guardian, what would we do if we got ourselves into a situation where we were all compromised. And we had agreed full heartedly that we would protect Lissa, over each other. "You were right, Lissa has to be your main priority." Using his own words against him would surely gain me some ground. "And you can't do that if I'm around."

Dimitri's face hardened as he folded his arms across his chest. "Your not doing this," His russian accent slowly seeped into his voice, something which happened when he got..emotional. "Your not going to use me as the excuse for you running." He paused his darker than chocolate eyes watching me closely. "Your running because your scared."

"Stating the obvious much," I retorted. "Of course I'm scared. I'm on the cusp of being a guardian, my lover is my teacher and my charge is giving off some crazy ass blood bond mojo." Taking steps closer to him, I tilted my head up and looked directly into his eyes so that he would look into mine. "Do you even see these eyes?" I didn't need a mirror to know that they were still the colour of coal, the magic from the blood bond was coursing strongly through my veins. "They're full on freaky black which apparently according to " I pointed out to the woods to where we had parked the van "that crazy old bastard.. is interesting. Interesting is not good.. interesting is bad."

"Since when do you believe a word Victor Dashkov says? He's crazy, you said it yourself. Besides you have an academy full of people who are willing to help you, a sister who would do anything for you" He said referring to Lissa, "And you have me." Dimitri took a step closer to me and placed his hands on my shoulders, steadying me. "You have all of me."

The butterflies in my stomach were going on a rampage, trying to escape. The pure emotion and openness he was offering me was overwhelming, it was almost felt like I couldn't breathe. I had waited for so long to hear him confess his feelings for me, for him to confess to himself that he loved me. I had waited so long for him. Looking down from his eyes, I stared directly at his chest and took several deep breaths. I needed to control myself. My mind was too busy in flashback mode, remembering last night when we had been together, as one. Running a hand through my auburn hair, I looked up at him from under a set of full black lashes. "This isn't a fairytale." As the words escaped my mouth, I could feel my heart straining to keep itself together. "Last night was...but today is today."

Not exactly the most eloquent, but he understood my meaning perfectly clear. His hands moved from my shoulders at warp speed as though he had been electrically pricked. "I won't follow you." He spoke clearly and took a step back. I knew that he wouldn't, I may have been the love of his life or so I like to think but he would never turn his back on his duties. And he knew I would never ask him to. "I can only ask you to stay, consider.."

A sad smile touched my lips, "Would you stay?" I asked rhetorically. "Would you stay if you knew that you had been compromised and someone else's life was in danger because of that? Would you?" And thats when I felt it, my heart breaking apart. I was compromising Lissa's life by being ill equipped to defend her. She wasn't safe in my protection. I was going to lose everyone that I loved. It was becoming hard to see with the water swimming around in my eyes, waiting to escape, to betray me. "You need to go.. protect her.. save her."

Dimitri didn't move.

"GO!" I shouted and turned my back on him, facing the inside of the garage. The tears freely escaped my eyes and streamed down the sides of my face.

I felt him move up behind me, my body tensed wanting to be touched. He leaned in close to my ear and I felt his hot breath against me. Dimitri spoke softly into my ear, "Come back to me." And then he was gone.

My body crumpled down onto the floor in a heap and I cried because I had been broken.


End file.
